They Who Fight Monsters
by Herr Wozzeck
Summary: Jodie's life takes a turn for the surreal when she finds herself warped a couple of centuries into the future. As she uncovers a galaxy-wide conspiracy, she finds that she has to stare into the abyss, and to do what she can to stop it. Various pairings, deconstruction of "Parallel Realities".
1. Prologue

_But thus I counsel you, my friends: mistrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful. __They are people of a low sort and stock; the hangman and the bloodhound look out of their faces. Mistrust all who talk much of their justice! Verily, their souls lack more than honey. And when they call themselves the good and the just, do not forget that they would be Pharisees, if only they had — power._

-Friedrich Nietzsche, _Also Sprach Zarathustra_

* * *

**They Who Fight Monsters**

Prologue: Black Sun

Jack Harper stood in the room he liked to stand in when contemplating. It was true there was a chair, but he decided to eschew the chair in favor of standing during that particular day. He found it difficult to sit still when he was agitated, after all, and he needed everything he could use to calm himself down. The view of the sun that was directly in front of him was always good for agitation, he found. It was always calming to see something familiar directly in front of him.

He especially needed the calming effect of it then, but for some reason that soothing quality of this sun wasn't getting through to him. Jack was one to always put up a stoic countenance no matter what he did, and this time was no exception. Inwardly, however, his heart was racing, and he felt that at any moment it could burst. His fingers, normally sure and steady, were shaking slightly. A cold sweat formed on his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot from days of being unable to rest. About the only thing that looked composed about him at that moment was the lit cigarette he was inhaling every so often, and even that would not sit still long in his shaking hands.

He still had to process what he had done by proxy.

It had been for the good of the galaxy, he told himself. He had saved them from a threat far more immediate and far worse than anything he had ever seen. When he first heard of what had happened to the people who had gone… _there_, he knew that there was something sinister lurking underneath. So he took measures to end it. He knew it would save the galaxy, not just humanity. It was necessary, and nobody else would do it even if they knew of its existence. He had just saved an entire galaxy of people. He had to do it.

So why did he feel as much guilt as he did?

He felt a slight burning sensation on one of his fingers. Jack simply shook his head, throwing the cigarette stub off to the side. He quickly pulled another cigarette, grabbed his lighter, and held the lighter up to the cigarette. His fingers remained shaky, though, which meant that the small flame would not stay still at the end of the cigarette. Jack took a deep breath to calm himself, pulling the lighter away so he wouldn't breathe on it and blow it out by accident. The deep breaths steadied himself, and then he was able to light his cigarette more effectively.

As he inhaled and breathed out, he watched the smoke particles dance. He then turned his head to the side where many dozens of cigarette stubs laid untended to. Jack briefly thought about how unscrupulous it was of him to leave those stubs there without cleaning them up, but this concern was quickly whisked away by the storm of emotions he was feeling. He would worry about it later: he had time to worry about such unimportant things later.

He looked out to the red sun in front of him again. A part of him secretly wished his sun would immediately turn black. It would only have been appropriate for what he had done. But the sun remained red, blazing away at all in front of it with no care for what Jack Harper was feeling.

The cigarette in his mouth burned down to its stub quickly, and, with a quick observation on how he hadn't even had the time to enjoy the taste, Jack tossed it to the side with a rushed flick of his wrist.

* * *

Rael'Zorah coughed ever so lightly, feeling the phlegm lodge in his throat again. His fever raged on, and he had to hold a hand to his head in a vain attempt to stem the horrible headache he had. Even in the mostly sterilized environment of the Neema, it seemed that Rael'Zorah's illness only seemed to get worse on the Fleet.

He _hated _being sick more than most quarians would admit. It only made the problem worse that his species was so easily infected by even something so minor as simple exposure to the air. Checking for everything obsessively had almost become second nature to him by then, and to think that his illness would be a result of such a thing was always the worst sensation in the world for the newly-minted admiral. He could _never _get used to being sick, even when his Pilgrimage had exposed him to illness often enough that it grew to be a problem.

Recuperating from the illness was even worse. As an admiral, he now had duties to the fleet that only seemed to drag his illness out to even more ridiculous lengths of time than before. There was so much to oversee. There was the management of affairs of the fleet. There was plotting their course, and where they would go next. There was overseeing the life support systems of the liveships. Sending quarians on missions. Keeping track of resources. Managing his own ship. And then there was probably something else he missed as well. And all the while, he had to brave a cold.

Rael'Zorah gulped, holding the tube of sterilized water in his hand. He hated being sick.

However, in this one particular instance, it had been worth it.

He sniffled, looking up as his eyes lightened a little in happiness. He had finally seen his daughter for the first time. He visited Mari'Zorah while she was still recuperating, and while there he had requested to hold his daughter in his bare hands. He never thought that his own little girl would be so beautiful, but there it was. By then she had already been placed in the protective bubble, but the weight felt so real in his arms. So too did the way her hands reached out for him.

Rael'Zorah's spirit was lifted every time he saw her in his mind's eye. He never knew what having a child of his own was like, but at that point, after holding his daughter in his arms...

He could get through the work, cold and everything. He could power through it. He had to. The state of affairs for the quarians was not great. There _had _to be something better than this, he knew it. There had to be something better than this, and he knew that it was up to him to change their state of affairs. Not just for the Fleet. Not just for the species.

He had to make it better for his little Tali'Zorah. His daughter _would _be brought into a better world than the one he was raised in, and he would not rest until he did everything in his power to make the lot of the quarians a better one. He needed to do it. They had faced the inky blackness of space long enough. At some point, he would watch an actual sun rise on the quarian people, instead of the numerous black suns they woke up to. And he would do anything to make it happen.

The admiral squeezed the last of the water out of the sterilized container, and then sighed. With careful motions, he removed the induction port from his suit, and let out a cough that was not as harsh as the previous one. He had a meeting with the other admirals about finding more element zero for the ships, and that could not afford to wait.

And thus, he made his way towards the room where such matters were frequently discussed.

* * *

To say that Jodie Holmes' life was flashing before her eyes would have been an understatement. Indeed, she saw many ghosts taking form around her, even feeling her body grow younger as she witnessed all the people in her life parade on in a never-ending reminder of her past. She saw forms she never thought she would see again. She saw faces she would rather not have seen ever again. But overall, there was one sentiment all of the ghosts shared: spite.

She also heard the voices of a legion of people, all of the voices close enough that she thought they were screaming in her ear. She recognized all the voices: how could she not when all the voices were the people she had known throughout her life? She heard the two men from the bar, shouting about how they were going to use her. She heard her first adoptive father calling her a monster. She heard the taunting of the men who put her in a coma. She even heard poor little Salim shouting at her in a mixture of rage and sorrow. All the voices together formed a terrifying cacophony, one that made her skin crawl in nervous anticipation.

She felt all sorts of entities pull at her, millions and millions of hands pulling. It made it difficult to walk, and she felt herself willing to give up and allow herself to be torn asunder by all the forces acting on her. Never in her life had she felt a physical force act against her in such a way, not even when she was walking at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean or even when the entities tugged at her at the much smaller Condenser facility close to where she had been raised by Cole and Nathan.

Nevertheless, she pressed on. For there was one single image forcing itself into the front of her mind: the image of a black sun, very slowly expanding and infecting the very air around it. She pressed on, knowing the kind of shit the whole world would get into if it were allowed to remain open. Her lungs burned and her eyes stung with tears, but she knew she had to press on. Nobody else could do this.

It had to be her. It was always her.

She looked up, and even through the haze all around her, she saw it: that small, unassuming control panel, somehow illuminated in the strange subversive physics of the storm around her. Her resolve spiked again, and breaking free of the hands that tugged she made a push for that control panel. She felt her energy get sapped, and she made the faint realization that she was fast approaching the other side. She briefly wondered what the Infraworld must have looked like from inside, but she shook the thought from her head.

The control panel seemed like it was years away, and yet with each step it got closer at an alarming rate. She felt herself get pulled in all directions, not by hands this time but by the sheer force around her. Some of the force even seemed to pull her towards the panel, and it was on this force that Jodie concentrated on, willing herself to go along with it, willing herself to reach her hand out…

It surprised her greatly at how little effort it took her to grab the lever and pull it all the way to the "off" position on the panel. She felt a twinge of relief flood through her there. The world could continue to exist, free of the influence of the Infraworld.

And then, she felt an otherworldly pull strengthen as quickly as her relief flooded through her. It pulled her further into the diminishing black sun, and she felt all sorts of forces pull on her from every direction. Eventually, the pain became too much, and she screamed out in anguish as she was pulled into the sun.

However, she immediately felt the pain subside. Instead, she had the sensation of a familiar, comforting feeling envelop her as she was pulled in. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the translucent blue light of Aiden trying to shield her from whatever was hurting her.


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: Oh hi everybody! It's Herr Wozzeck here, with another Mass Effect fanfic for you all. But this time, it's with a bit of a twist. No, it's not the fact that it's a crossover with Beyond: Two Souls. No no, it's another thing entirely._

_See, I've sort of seen this… _trend _in fanfiction in the section recently, and I'll say right now that it's kind of beginning to get annoying. That trend happened to be started by InHarmsWay's atrocious fanfic by the name of _Parallel Realities, _which is about Shepard coming from a parallel reality rather than from one of the three canon backgrounds. It only gets worse from there. I'd tell you all my grievances with it, but really, I spent an entire _year_ talking about that fic elsewhere on the internet._

_But the gist of those grievances is this: not only is that fic incredibly stupid, but it basically flanderizes _everything _that made the Mass Effect universe interesting. Worse, it actually ended with some unfortunate implications that kind of pissed me off. And worse than that is the fact that now _another _author took his idea and started doing stupid things with it too. _That _fic, while mostly a plagiarism of the original _Parallel Realities_, somehow manages to be even stupider. And then _that _got someone writing in that universe._

_So I decided that, due to the poor quality of the stories that continually come out of that, the entire genre that _Parallel Realities _somehow managed to spawn_ _was overdue for a deconstruction. And what better way to do that than to throw Jodie Holmes and her little ghost friend Aiden into the mix?_

_Now, I'd like to make one thing clear: I actually_ like _Beyond: Two Souls_. _Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it flawed? Hell yes. Does it show why David Cage can be full of shit sometimes? You bet. But for me, I liked the story enough that I was able to forgive its flaws as a game._

_But some of you might be wondering: so is that why you're writing a crossover, and with that subject, to boot? Actually, the thing that screams for Jodie Holmes to show up is that I feel she actually presents a great counterpoint against the parallel galaxy in this fic. Jodie has basically had a sucky life where her ability to trust in people has sort of been hampered by people who've tried to control her because of her connection to Aiden. So in that way, she provides counterpoint to the Shepard in those fics, who is a control freak who doesn't trust anyone he can't control. (How, you might ask? I'll talk more in-depth about that, and about Jodie Holmes as a character, as we go.)_

_But that won't be for quite some time. First, we gotta get to point B. And to get to point B, we've got a story to tell. It's a genre deconstruction, yes, but first and foremost it's a story. And if we lose sight of that, what chance have we got to let this story succeed on its own terms?_

_So with that said, we've got this: This fic consists of multiple properties that are not mine. _Mass Effect _is copyright to the guys at Bioware and EA Games. The fanfiction _Parallel Realities _was originally written by InHarmsWay, and various species and cultural concepts were lifted from both that and _From another world _by EclipsePheniox_. Beyond: Two Souls _is copyright David Cage and the guys at Quantic Dream. Any original characters, such as Xerxes Garkaran, Kalo'Veera nar Idenna, and various others, were created by me._

_So for now, let's get this story started, shall we? Here we go:_

* * *

**Part I: On The Genealogy of Morality**

Chapter One

When sensation returned to Jodie, she felt a crick in her neck. She also noticed that she was laying on a cold metal floor, though she was not cold by any extent of the imagination. She had feeling in her limbs, however, and when she tested it, her hand opened at her command (rather sluggishly, but it opened nonetheless).

Jodie slowly opened her eyes, her gaze falling onto a metal wall right across from where she was. She blinked, unsure if she was really seeing a wall made of metal. Eventually, though, she realized that yes, she was: nothing seemed to shine with the kind of sheen that metal did, and that was a fact of life that Jodie had gotten used to after everything that occurred in Kazirstan. With a groan, she pushed herself up into a seated position, her legs on the ground as she blinked the tired feeling out of her eyes. She looked up and down, noticing that she was in an alleyway of some kind. The alley was completely empty: this made Jodie a little unnerved, as she at least expected to see a trash receptacle. For the moment, she was alone, and she was painfully aware of the clothing she wore on her back.

She looked around. Jodie could tell that there was something wrong, but she could not quite place her finger on what felt wrong about it. There was something… _missing_, in her mind, and it was something she could not quite grasp at. She could have sworn that she was in a chamber somewhere before this, pushing against an unseen force…

And then, Jodie twitched as the moments before she blacked out came back to her. The rush towards the black sun, the way her life played out before her, the effort of pulling the switch, her being swept up while protected by… by…

"Aiden?" Jodie looked up at the air around her, her eyes wide in fear. "Aiden, are you there?"

At first, she was greeted by silence. She looked around frantically, pushing herself to her feet as her gaze shifted to and fro. Her breath quickened slightly as she looked for something, _any _confirmation that Aiden was there. _No_, she thought, looking around. _Aiden, please… Aiden, please be there…_

And then, she heard a clicking sound come from above her. It was a rather faint sound and it seemed distorted by whatever unreality existed where Jodie was the only one who heard him, but she heard it nonetheless. The fact that it was a sound only she could hear helped allay her fears considerably. She looked up, a smile coming to her face as she bent over her knees and let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank God," Jodie said. "I thought I'd lost you again." She chuckled bitterly, and then pushed herself off her knees. "I need to stop underestimating you like that."

Aiden clicked at her. It was a rather unamused click by the sound of it, but that fact alone was enough to bring comfort to her.

Jodie looked up. "I know, Aiden," she said. "I know." She then looked around at the alley she was in, her arms swinging at her sides as she surveyed it. "Well… we closed the black sun, but…" She looked around, getting her bearings. "Where _are _we? I thought we were in a facility. With the others. I thought…" She then paused, looking at her hands. They felt a little strange, but it was nothing that Jodie could not handle alone.

She shook her head. "Well, this is going to be interesting," she said, looking at where she assumed Aiden was. "We need to figure out where we are. Wherever that is. I'd be very interested to know why the CIA dumped me in an unknown place so soon after I solved their problem for them." She then looked to the end of the alley, seeing what looked like city lights at the end. "Come on, Aiden. Let's go."

Jodie then walked rather slowly to the end of the alley, knowing Aiden well enough to know that he would follow her no matter what. It was a side effect of the link she and Aiden had shared from her birth, actually: they were basically inseperable. Jodie thought back to her earliest childhood memories, thinking of how Aiden had made her life rather difficult at the beginning. How he still liked to make her life difficult even as an adult.

But at the present moment, Aiden's presence was comforting, familiar. And in a place she knew nothing about, that was a good comfort to have.

Jodie walked over to the end of the alleyway, hearing various people talk. "Well, at least I'm in a city," she muttered under her breath. "At least then I can—"

And then, Jodie stepped outside of the alleyway.

She took one look at the scenery around her, before gasping rather suddenly and retreating somewhat into the alleyway. She blinked several times, and when that failed to erase the image in front of her she rubbed her eyes. When _that _failed to work, she looked up, her eyes wide in astonishment at what she saw.

"Aiden, are… are you seeing what _I'm_ seeing?" she asked nervously.

A whoosh of other-worldly sound was the only confirmation she had that Aiden saw what she saw.

Jodie took in a very shaky breath, looking at her surroundings. All around her were people walking to and fro across a busy city walkway. That should have been normal. But she could barely recognize _any _of the forms that were walking around minding their own businesses. Some seemed to look like extra-plated versions of velociraptors minus the tails, some looked like strange frogs, and there were even some that looked like a make-up artist had too much free time and decided to add unmoving tentacles to a woman's head. Jodie briefly felt her skin crawl at how… _alien _everyone seemed to look, and the only confirmation she had that there was anything normal occurring around her was the sight of a few humans milling about within the crowd. She wondered how the hell they moved about as if nothing was awry, and that only served to send shivers down her spine.

The walkway itself was very different as well. It was all-metal, but every so often she could see some kind of display made entirely out of holograms. Jodie thought holograms were something only seen in something like _Logan's Run_, but there they were, displaying... something, she couldn't tell what. It was upon noticing this that she then turned her attention to the various clothing of everyone around her, noticing that they were wearing something futuristic. She even thought she saw some of the holograms on people's arms. And as she looked around, she saw just how many people there were in this situation.

She slowly stepped out, and when she looked around she noticed that much of the area was bathed in colored light. It was not neon-bright by any means, but it definitely colored the area in a blue-ish light. She also noticed some holograms around the arms of the various… _things _running around, and… And...

Jodie felt her throat constrict against her will. Her eyes widened, and then she found herself stumbling towards a bench that happened to be nearby. It was empty, a fact Jodie was thankful for as she sat on the bench and gripped the back of it for support. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to concentrate on breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out, over and over and over again to calm her racing heart...

It took about a minute or so, but Jodie's throat finally relaxed, as did her pulse. She took a couple more breaths before looking back up at her surroundings. She was still in awe of what she was seeing, and her little panic attack proved that whatever was going on here could not have been the product of any kind of fever dream.

Jodie looked up at where Aiden was, her eyes still a little wide. "Shit…" she whispered. "Aiden, where the hell are we?"

Aidan clicked frantically. Jodie could tell that he was just as shocked as she was. She glanced around, feeling her throat constrict somewhat as she looked around at all the unfamiliar things that were swirling around her. It was all rather overwhelming, and suddenly questions began to form in her head.

But prominently, one question came to the forefront:

_What the hell am I doing in this place, and how did I get there?_

She sighed, looking up at Aiden. "Well... wherever we are, we've gotta survive first," she says. "Come on. Let's go get a sense of where we are."

Aiden could only click his agreement at Jodie's sentiment before the two went on their way.

* * *

Sometime later, Jodie sat at a different bench from the one she sat at earlier. She looked up at all the people around her, still in their unfamiliar forms. It had taken her quite a bit to get used to this, during which time she had managed to gather a few details about the world around her. It was nothing she could have gotten from talking about, but Jodie had become quite good at picking up details from the environment around her thanks to some of Aiden's abilities. She was grateful that he was still around: at present, it was making her life much easier.

Obviously, this place was not Earth. She had not seen anything resembling a normal sky, and when she could find a place to look at a skyline she found that the view was of a city that stretched on to a ring, and that there were four adjacent city-looking things also attached to this ring. She also noticed there was no real sun, so obviously she had to be somewhere away from Earth. And if she was away from Earth, this meant she had gone somewhere in the far future. This was apparent by the technology more than by the environment, but since she had seen a couple of flying cars after leaving that alley, she reasoned that she was several centuries in the future.

She could also discount that it was all a vision from the Infraworld. Not only was it far, _far _too vivid to be that, but Aiden himself verified that the actual Infraworld looked quite a bit different from this place. Besides, Jodie knew what entities looked like, and she knew that there was no way they would take those forms in particular.

Of course, none of this did anything to answer Jodie's ultimate question of how she got there in the first place. She figured that the Black Sun had something to do with it, but she kept drawing a blank every time she tried to figure out what exactly had happened. The Black Sun was only meant to act as a portal between the Infraworld and the physical world, so how did it propel her into the far future? The possibility of the space existing as a kind of alternate dimension had occurred to Jodie at one point during her investigation, but that thought was immediately dispelled when she considered that the Black Sun was built with the express idea that it knew _exactly _what it was trying to open to.

She shook her head. "At least I won't have the CIA on my back," she muttered darkly. She looked up at Aiden in concern. "Right, Aiden?"

The entity whooshed in reply. Jodie sighed, sitting there looking around her. After some time, she had finally gotten the CIA off of her back, but right then... Right then, she was even more abnormal than before. Aside from having been transplanted into who knew when, she still had Aiden, and she was still an outcast. Only this time, she was an outcast in an even more obvious manner.

Aside from the fact that she was born well in the past, she noticed that nobody on this station seemed to speak English, even with the human population. Worse, she had no idea where to begin with looking up the history of everyone so she would know where in time she was. And most of all, she didn't know if English could even be spoken, and if so what she should do about it. She had no idea what to do, she had no idea how she would communicate, and the only thing she had on her side was Aiden (who was only so useful in a situation like this).

She sighed, standing up and brushing some hair out of her face. Well, she did see various public computers all over the place, and she knew Aiden could manipulate electronics. Maybe she could get to one of those terminals and have Aiden make sure it read in—

Jodie was suddenly knocked to the ground rather roughly from the force of having crashed into someone. She let out a gasp as her body hit the floor, and then she looked up in surprise to see one of those spiky raptor-looking things hovering over her. Before she could get a good look at the person who bumped into her, though, the spiky raptor-thing rushed past her, letting off some quick sounds before he continued on his way. As Jodie looked on, she watched as he ran by without even casting a look at her.

Jodie frowned, standing up and brushing herself off. "I'm fine, by the way," she muttered sardonically. "Thanks for asking. Asshole." She growled at this, looking up at Aiden. "Some people, huh, Aiden?"

But instead of replying, Aiden remained strangely mum. She shook her head, looking back at where the spiky man had—

And then she stopped, turning her attention back to the ground. For in front of her was some chip-looking thing. It was large enough to be a wallet, and from the looks of it…

Jodie bent down and picked the object up, turning it towards her to take a good look at it. She noticed something at the top, and when she parted her fingers to get a better look she saw something that reminded her somewhat of a bar code. Or at least, that was the closest association she could come up with: it looked rather different in terms of material, for this bar code seemed to be made mostly out of metal.

_Wait_, she thought. _If that's a bar code…_ She then looked to where the spiky man had run off. _Was this his…?_

Jodie looked at the object, and then up at the air. "Aiden, do you think it's some kind of ID?" she asked.

The resulting series of clicks Jodie heard was telling. But Jodie could tell from the rapid, almost frantic succession they were heard in that he was thinking the same thing.

She nodded. "Then… I don't know how we're going to do this, but we need to get this back to him," she said. "Even if he _did _just brush me off without so much as an apology." She then glanced about the area, eyeing the uniform of everyone there. "You think there's a law enforcement officer here? If this is some kind of ID, and if we're in the future, then maybe they could trace the owner…"

She then steeled her glance, looking through the crowd. "Come on, Aiden," she said. "Let's go find the law enforcement around here."

Aiden offered no protest as Jodie began walking in a random direction.

* * *

Eventually, she came to some kind of establishment that was built right into one of the walls. There was a bright sign above it that read as "C-SEC". She looked inside the establishment, seeing a grouping of those blue-suited aliens she had seen periodically as she walked through the Citadel holding the mysterious raptor's identification... thing in her hands. She looked up, and noticed that some of these people seemed to be armed.

Jodie tapped her foot against the ground. "Well, I think this is it, Aiden," she said. "I mean, they look like law enforcement, and they've got 'sec' in the name, so..." She sighed. "You don't think they'll speak English, do you?"

Aiden replied with a soft whoosh followed by an abrupt click. Jodie turned her gaze to the ground upon hearing this. "Yeah, probably not," she said. She sighed, and looked right at the establishment and holding the thing in her hand.

She shook her head, and took a deep breath. "Well, Aiden, let's do this," she said.

And with this, she walked into the establishment, seeing one of the tentacle-headed aliens sitting at a desk towards the front. She was wearing a dark blue uniform just like everyone else in there, and it appropriately looked futuristic. For a second, Jodie felt very self-conscious of her attire, but the feeling passed very quickly as she walked up to this alien. There was something alluring about this alien's dark-blue skin and the way her auburn eyes seemed to match it. As she walked up, Jodie noticed how feminine this alien looked, and was briefly taken by how beautiful this strange alien seemed.

And then the alien looked at Jodie, and the alien's gaze seemed to punch a hole though Jodie. The disconnect was enough that Jodie felt her skin crawl for a second or two as the alien seemed to eye her up and down.

The alien spoke immediately, her voice steely in the way that Nathan and Cole would be when they were in one of their 'no-nonsense' moods. True to form, Jodie could not understand the onslaught of words that this strange alien spoke, but all the same she found that she was taken by the contrast of the steely voice with the smooth syllables that seemingly flowed like a river. The strange contrast between steely voice and watery syllables sounded kind of strangely alluring to her, and Jodie found herself briefly wondering how many men would like to be around her.

And then she realized that the air between them was silent.

"Oh, uh, sorry," said Jodie as she brought the item up to the alien's view. "I... I wanted to return an item. I bumped into someone earlier, and he dropped this as he ran past me. I wasn't able to return it to him before he disappeared into the crowd, so..."

The tentacle-headed woman looked at Jodie for a few seconds before reaching out and taking the item out of her hands. Jodie was surprised at how lightly she took it, considering the slightly steely tone of her voice. She looked the object over for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes as she inspected the object. The tentacle-head then said something else to Jodie. She still could not make out the voice, but judging from the slight rise of the alien's intonation at the end of the question Jodie suspected she was asking a question. And then, as the alien finished the question, she shook the wallet.

"Uh... Well, I... uh... thought that you would..." _No no, too obvious. Of_ course _she knows what I'm there for, I'm reporting a dropped ID_. Jodie shook her head. "Sorry. No, it belonged to some guy with... spikes coming out of his head, or something. I didn't get that great a look at whoever it was I bumped into. He was tall, though. And very spiky."

Jodie noticed the alien's expression take on a curious look, though she did see that it bordered slightly on being almost offended. The alien opened her mouth, and then closed it. The alien then said something snappily, the steely edge of her voice amplified by the slightest undercurrent of anger. The snappy comment went on for quite some time, and it seemed to get more and more percussive, breaking up the flow of the syllables like the percussion of a particularly wild heavy metal band. Even without knowing what the strange alien was saying, Jodie still felt the sting the strange words conveyed, and she cringed as the alien continued. After what felt like a few minutes, Jodie found that she was completely embarrassed, the silence between her and the alien suddenly rather awkward.

"Uh... Sorry." She then looked down at the ground. "I... I'm sorry if I offended anyone." _Now if only I knew what the hell those things were called..._

The alien glared at Jodie for a few seconds, and then she turned her attention to her work station. Jodie looked up just in time to see the alien grab some kind of scanning device (_finally, something that's familiar_, she thought briefly) and scanned the bar-code looking thing quickly. She watched as some information showed up on the hologram, and the alien's glare softened as she nodded. The alien said something, but her voice was much less harsh than it was before. Jodie breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that the alien had forgotten her momentary lapse of judgment.

The tentacle-head then gestured to the opening of the doorway that was close by, saying something in a much more calm manner. Jodie assumed that it was an invitation to sit down, as her voice had become more welcoming.

Jodie bowed, her expression grateful as she looked at the alien. "Thank you," she said. "I'll wait right there for him."

And with this, Jodie walked over to the bench, sitting down and looking out to this strange new place.

* * *

The wait ended up being unexpectedly long. Jodie found herself looking up at the ceiling, sighing and thinking of nothing in particular.

Aiden was unusually quiet, actually. Considering that Aiden tended to get rather restless while waiting, Jodie remained rather relieved that he was remaining quiet. This allowed her to look out into the streets around her, getting used to the aliens around her. Now that she was able to get a better look, she noticed that there was a great deal more variety than she initially thought. There were the standard spike-heads and the tentacle-heads and the strange frog guys, but now she also noticed these huge guys in heavy armor that had funny faces that looked like a rock got glued onto it. She wondered what those were breifly, finding them to be fascinating-looking people. There were also some jelly-fish looking things and some strange-looking short people covered in a kind of environmental suit. Looking out, she was surprised by the sheer variety of alien life on display in front of her.

She had to admit, something about the whole thing was incredible. She knew what laid on the other side of death, but she had never known what could have been seen beyond Earth. Seeing these aliens parading around on what must have been a remote space station, she felt kind of awed in the best way possible.

Her thoughts then turned to Cole and Nathan, and then she found herself wondering how they would react to seeing this. Cole would probably get rather curious, if only preferring to hover around Jodie in case she got herself in any amount of trouble. But he'd probably tag along with Jodie just to see what was going on. And Nathan... Nathan would probably be rather awed by everything that Jodie was seeing. Jodie briefly wondered if Nathan would spend time trying to study if any of these aliens had a connection to the Infraworld, before shaking her head at the thought.

Either way, she imagined they would be just as awed as she was at what she was seeing. That was something that warmed her heart as she looked out into the Citadel.

And then, a spiky raptor entered the establishment, and Jodie immediately recognized him as the man she'd bumped into. This time, however, she was able to get a relatively decent look at him, and that was one thing she was grateful for. He was a lighter shade than most of the others of his kind she had seen, with a light-brown hue to his body and deep purple eyes that looked at her. However, perhaps most distinctive was what Jodie assumed was some kind of face tattoo. She had seen all variety of the face tattoos on all the other raptor-looking men, but this one was striking to her in that it was a bright yellow face tattoo rather than the darker shades she had noticed on the others. And above it all, he was actually not as imposing as the other ones.

Upon this second glance, Jodie realized that it was no surprise that she was knocked back on her ass by this man. He was tall and rather imposing, and much of the 'spikes' on his body looked like rock formations.

The strange raptor-looking person said something to the blue tentacle-head, but Jodie did not recognize the language. It consisted of a series of clicks and maybe a bunch of vowel sounds that Jodie could never place. It, too, was unlike any language she had ever heard before, and she had heard plenty throughout her life. The tentacle-head chuckled, however, and then replied back in her own words.

Jodie looked on in surprise, her eyes darting between the two alien parties as they spoke in an alternation of silky language and harsh clicks. It formed a cacophony of sounds for Jodie that were not related in any way, and yet by their body language she was able to tell that they were having an entire conversation. And yet, the strange alien continued speaking in her strange, flowing tongue, almost as if it was the same language as that of the more percussive language. As time went on, Jodie found herself getting more and more confounded, and she imagined that Aiden was having a similar reaction.

_How can these two understand each other?_ she thought. _They're not even… what?_

She looked between them, completely confused as they carried on their conversation.

And then, the spiky alien looked at Jodie and said something to her. It took a second for the fact that he said something directly to her to register, and then she blinked.

"Um… You're welcome, I think…" She paused, zeroing in on the person's facial expression.

The raptor-like being then gave her a rather confused look, the tentacle-head giving a similar expression. They looked at each other awkwardly, and Jodie knew _immediately _that she must have misunderstood what the man had actually said. And in her confusion, she finally decided enough was enough.

"I… I can't understand you, sir," Jodie said. "What are you saying?"

The raptor seemed to frown (well, frown was a generous term, considering that the… being in front of her had no eyebrows of any variety), before it looked Jodie up and down. He then looked over to the blue tentacle head, who just shrugged sympathetically. His expression slowly shifted to one of surprise, though, as he took note of several things. Jodie was starting to feel vaguely uncomfortable being looked at in this way, and she figured Aiden could tell.

The being in front of her then pointed at the area around them. He said something that Jodie could not place, but he gestured around him again. Jodie briefly felt bad for whatever being it was that was gesticulating in front of her like this: she knew he must have felt so humiliated trying to communicate with someone she could not understand.

"Um… Where am I?" Jodie asked. "I… I don't know. I… How do you talk with her?" She gestured at the tentacle head for emphasis. "I mean, you're not even speaking the same language!"

The raptor shook his head, and then said something else. He pointed at a point on his head that Jodie assumed were the being's ears. She could not see any outward ears, but looking at everybody all around her and the noticeable lack of visible ears, she guessed it was standard that ears were a little embedded. He tapped that twice, and then he pointed at Jodie and said something else. When he said this, he pointed at himself, and then said something, but the words he used were very similar to what he had told her just a few seconds ago.

Jodie frowned. "You… You can understand me," she said. "I guess I can see that now, but I…" She shakes her head. "Look, this is getting nowhere. I'm lost, I have no idea where to go, and I don't know how to talk to anyone here. If you don't know how I can get help, then…"

But the raptor simply pointed at his ear again. He then beckoned her to get a little closer, as if inviting her to see inside his ear.

Jodie took a harsh intake of breath inwards, and then she walked over to the raptor-thing. She then leaned forward, looking at where he was pointing to see that, attached to some part of his head, was some strange-looking device. It had an audio receptacle of some sort, and was about the size of an SD card, if that. She blinked, looking at the raptor in front of her…

_There's _no _way that's true_… she thought as she looked at the raptor in disbelief.

"You… That's translating what I'm telling you?" Jodie asked.

At that, the raptor-looking thing nodded, and the two stick-looking things on the side of its face widened in a kind of smile. He then pointed at himself, back to Jodie, and then back to where that little earpiece that was on his body. He then pointed in a random direction with his thumb, saying something more before pointing to his earpiece and then to her.

Jodie could only blink. _Well, **that** would have been useful in Somalia_, she briefly thought. She then felt a chill rush down her spine, and she could only shake her body before looking back at the spiky man.

"I should get one?" she asked. "I… I guess that's true. It would save me so much trouble, but… You're not suggesting you get it for me, are you?"

The raptor could only nod at Jodie's question.

The young woman started slightly. "Oh… Oh no," she said. "I... I couldn't trouble you with that. It's my responsibility, and…" _and Aiden could get involved, and that probably won't end well for anyone_, she had to bite back. Aiden probably heard her thoughts anyway, but to say that out loud would have been weird, she knew.

The tentacle-head said something in her silky language, though. When Jodie looked at her, she noticed that the tentacle-head was nodding, pointing at the spiky man. The spiky man nodded, offering his hand to her.

Jodie only looked at the tentacle head. "So… Do you need me for anything else, or is this all resolved?" she asked.

The tentacle-head waved her hand out in a motion that seemed to cut the air. Jodie sighed in relief. _Finally, a gesture I recognize, _she thought.

In turn, Jodie nodded. "Oh, okay then." She then turned to the spiky man, and sighed. "Well, I guess I better get one of those translators so… sure." She then took the raptor's hand.

The strange raptor nodded to the blue woman, and then he walked out of there, Jodie following behind. She glanced back at the blue woman as she turned back to her desk, and then she allowed herself to be led by this strange raptor to some place.

Jodie could only imagine Aiden was hovering around this raptor, ready to strike if it turned out he was a less than savory character. She could hardly blame Aiden: he had been right about such situations before, and Aiden was usually very, _very _good about defending Jodie from harm. But considering the spiky man's body language when he talked with the tentacle-head, Jodie suspected that Aiden would not need to step in.

And so, she let out a comfortable breath, eventually falling into step behind the raptor.

* * *

The raptor, seemingly true to his word, took her to a shop with a couple of patrons inside. Jodie noticed various items on the wall, and from the way they were packaged she guessed that it was an electronics store of some kind. It was mostly gloves and earpieces, though, and they were certainly nothing like anything she had ever seen before. But she was led in, and the raptor-looking thing began talking to one of the frog-like aliens that was situated behind the counter. He gestured to her as he let go of her wrist, and Jodie noticed the frog-thing looking at her with round, buggy eyes.

A few chills ran down her spine as she saw this, but soon enough her attention was drawn to the various earpieces, all of them in _very _different shapes and sizes. There were even some that were closer to the size of the notebooks she used to bring on missions, though she had a feeling it was less for memory storage and more for something else. As she looked, she turned to the other objects in the store, which all looked like gloves with electronics on them. It reminded her briefly of something out of a sci-fi movie about computers, if it had come to life and were commonplace. Jodie surmised this must have been the source of the holograms around people's arms, and suddenly she found herself wondering just how far technology had advanced. She had never been great with computers to begin with, but the fact that she had to get used to so much new technology was alarming.

She was interrupted when the raptor who had brought her there tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she turned to the raptor, and then noticed the frog person was gesturing for her to sit in a nearby chair. She looked at the shopkeeper nervously as he made some kind of remark that was spoken in a much more hurried language than the raptor's, and then back at the chair.

Jodie sighed immediately as she saw the earpiece in the frog-man's hand. "Sorry, I just got a bit distracted," she said as she walked over to the chair. "I've been feeling a bit jumpy lately."

The salarian made another remark as she sat down, removing the earpiece from its packaging and getting close to her ear. Jodie could almost see Aiden hovering around her protectively, ready to strike if it turned out they were being played. Jodie, thankfully, was a little more trusting, and she looked over at the raptor-like thing as he looked over at the frog person. Soon enough, Jodie felt the frog-man's hands take hold of her ear gently, and then the earpiece was slid into place.

Jodie did not expect the frog-man's hands to be as clean as they were, but the fact that they only felt cold and smooth as opposed to cold, smooth, and slimy was a welcome relief for her.

The raptor-looking thing looked at Jodie, and then brought one of his hands to his wrist, simulating pinching. Jodie glanced to the side as the frog man put the finishing touches on the ear piece…

…and then she let out a bit of a squeal as she felt something pinch her just behind the ear. It was only a pinch, but the sensation that flooded behind her ear seemed several magnitudes of pain worse than that. Her hand went up to that earpiece immediately, and then she looked down as the pinch began to subside.

"Ow, that kind of hurt…" Jodie said. "I just… ow..."

She then looked up as the raptor-thing began to speak. However, as he spoke…

"...lation...ime to... no, I… we go… be kicking in any… All right, and I think that should do it," he finished off as Jodie's eyes widened in surprise.

Jodie felt her heartbeat spike a little bit. "I… I can understand you now," Jodie replied breathlessly.

The raptor thing nodded. "And that, my friend, is the great thing about the universal translator," he replied in a deep voice filled with luscious subharmonics that she had never heard in a human's voice. He chuckled, and then shook his head. "Seriously, how haven't you heard of one of those before?"

"I'm sorry," Jodie replied. "I just… I don't really know where I am. One moment I'm somewhere on Earth, and then the next I'm here on this station, and…"

"Oh, it's one of _those _kinds of stories." She turned to the frog-man, noticing that his voice was rather quick. "Some human gets somewhere, wakes up on the Citadel, doesn't know where she is…"

"Hey, calm down," the raptor replied. "Not all humans get like that. She's probably just overwhelmed."

"You can say that again," Jodie said. She crossed her arms. "But... well, I also did live a somewhat... _sheltered _life..."

"You did, huh?" The raptor crossed his arms and looked at Jodie. "I guess I can see that." He looked at the human. "Are you all right? I bumped into you pretty hard."

"I'm fine," Jodie said, chuckling nervously as she stood up. She then frowned. "Nothing's broken, so..."

The raptor nodded. "Yeah, tha's a good thing..." he replied. He then glanced sheepishly to the side. "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I thought I didn't have as much time as I did, so... Sorry for bumping into you." He looked down, and then paused. "And thanks for returning my stuff."

Jodie nodded. "It's fine," she said. "I'm just glad you got your ID back."

The spiky man looked at her strangely. "My ID?" he asked. "I mean, this has my identification on it, but it's not an ID."

Jodie then tilted her head to the side. "It's not?" she asked. "Then… then what is it?"

"It's a credit chit," he said. "Basically, you just got all my money back to me."

Jodie's hair stood on end for a split second from the shock. "I… Holy shit!" She leaned back, looking at the strange alien man in surprise. "Wow…" She said. She then chuckled nervously. "I didn't know most wallets could do that!"

The spiky man looked at her. "Well, that doesn't surprise me now," he said. "I guess it's true when you've got a sheltered person coming onto the Citadel for the first time." He then flashed a confident smile at Jodie that faded just as quickly as it had appeared. "Just a pro-tip, ma'am: chits are everywhere these days."

"It certainly seems that way," Jodie replied. "I... I guess it's a good thing I brought it to the law enforcement."

"Indeed," the frog-thing mentioned as he walked up to some holographic computer-looking thing. "You're lucky you met him, too. Most turians would've gone on a racist diatribe about politics and speed and humans being rash and uncouth. Or, worse, they would've just accused you of stealing their chit." He chuckled, gesturing straight at the raptor. "But I know _that_ turian well enough that he wouldn't do that."

Jodie turned to the raptor like thing, and assumed that he was what the frog-man had called a turian. _Turian_, she thought. _Okay… Well, at least I know what they're called now._

"I guess it's good you do," Jodie replied. She then turned to the turian, nodding quickly. "Thank you for the… um… translator. This is... this is going to make life a lot easier."

"Don't worry about it," said the turian. "I'm just glad you're not stumbling around unable to understand people. Trust me, I've been there before. It's not fun." He held out a hand immediately. "Well, since we're at this point, I guess introductions are in order. I'm Xerxes Garkaran."

Jodie looked at the outstretched hand, and then back at the turian as he smiled at her. Jodie couldn't help but smile back, looking at Xerxes as she took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"I'm… I'm Jodie. Jodie Holmes," she replied.

"Jodie, huh?" Xerxes flashed her a smile. "Lovely name."

"Um… thanks," Jodie said. She glanced to the side awkwardly. "I'm sorry I don't have anything to pay you with. If I did, I'd—"

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Xerxes as he handed the frog-man a strange little chip-looking thing to the shopkeeper. "Think of it as payment for getting my chit back to me."

"I…. I see," Jodie said. "But are you sure? I mean, we only just met, and we barely know anything about each other, and—"

"It's fine, really," Xerxes replied as he held his hand up. "Besides, I doubt that you have enough to pay for even one omni-tool here considering that you just got to the Citadel. Let me handle it."

Jodie looked in bewilderment as Xerxes took his chip-looking thing back from the frog. "I… I see…" she said. "Thank you."

"Anytime," said Xerxes. He then looked at Jodie intently. "You said you were a little lost?"

"I… Yes," said Jodie. "I've never been off of Earth before."

"Most humans that've been there all their lives get a bit lost on their first time here," Xerxes replied. He nodded, looking right at her. "Do you need any help acclimating? Because if you really want, I can take some time to talk about this place." He glanced to the side. "Honestly, it's the least I can do for bumping into you like that."

Jodie blinked. "I… I guess I do." she said. She then looked at one of the elastic band cubes as Xerxes took it off the counter and handed it to her. "I think I'll take you up on that. Why not?"

Xerxes nodded as Jodie took the package. "Great," he said. He nodded in the direction of the frog man. "Thanks, Selvath."

"Anytime, Xerxes," the frog-man replied as he returned to his terminal.

Jodie turned back to Xerxes as he began walking out of the shop. She followed rather quickly, wondering if Aiden was all right with this. Aiden had learned to remain in the background unless Jodie was in danger, but at the present moment, Jodie did not exactly feel threatened. Oh, she would fight if the going went really bad, but she did not forsee Xerxes doing anything really terrible to her.

And so, she looked at the turian. "So, the Citadel…" Jodie replied. "I take it it's an important place…"

"Very important," said Xerxes. "It's the hub of much of the galaxy, Jodie." He then pointed at one of the things that Jodie had seen a hologram appear from every so often. "Avina's the best thing to go to if you want more information about the Citadel itself. I take it you're less experienced in the realm of the whole galaxy, though."

Jodie blinked. _This whole galaxy is inhabited?_ she thought. _Well, I guess that explains all these other things, then_.

"You could say that," Jodie replied, looking around. "I think I could use a slight refresher course, actually. It's overwhelming getting used to things here."

"Of course," said Xerxes. "I happen to know a quiet spot that I can use to that end. Come on."

And with this, the turian walked forward. Jodie slowed a little, looking at him as he walked right through the crowd. She thought about how crazy her life had become since she first woke up in that alleyway. There were all the aliens, there was Xerxes, there was the wrist computer she had in the container.

She shook her head, taking the little wrist-thing out of the packaging as she filed in behind Xerxes. _Well, I guess it can't hurt,_ she thought. _I could use a major primer to this place…_

* * *

Jodie flexed her left hand again, getting used to the strange glove-like electronic component she now had on her hand. As she flexed this hand, she looked out at the Citadel from the bench she sat on. She had not really taken the time to see what she now knew as the Citadel all that much earlier, but since Xerxes was explaining the place to her she found herself paying attention. When she had the time to take a step back and look at the scenery, she realized that she was in a place that was rather wondrous to behold. The view of the rest of the Citadel was rather great from where she sat, and she could tell that Xerxes was familiar enough with the view that he had no problems sharing it with anyone at all. She wondered just how much there was to the place, and how long it would take her to see the whole thing.

See the whole thing. That was something she realized that she had the luxury to do. Being warped into the future, she postulated that the CIA she knew was no more. Thus, she was finally free; therefore, it followed that she could do whatever she wished. Of course, there were still the consequences to deal with, but she did not have to worry about anyone watching her every move anymore. That thought especially made her feel rather liberated. Even though she knew that she was in a strange world that would take getting used to, she had the feeling she could get used to it quickly enough since she was free from any kind of agenda.

And while all this was going through her head, Xerxes was giving her a primer of the geography of the Citadel.

"And that, Jodie, is the Presidium." Xerxes pointed at the ring that the five wards were connected to. "That's where most of the upper-class people go."

"Really?" Jodie asked, leaning forward. "So, government officials?"

"And a couple other kinds of people, yes," said Xerxes. "Now, that doesn't mean that it's off limits to everyone else. Anyone can come and go on there as they wish. I just hope you get a lot of credits by then."

"I guess. I mean, with all the government officials there…" Jodie frowned, turning her attention to the grey ring. "It looks like a really boring place, though."

The turian chuckled. "Don't let the ring of grey deceive you," he said. "The Presidium is actually a rather lovely place. It's the only place on the whole station with an artificial day-night cycle, actually, and it has all these parks and monuments and other things like that."

"Really?" Jodie said. "So why does it look so boring from here?"

"Well, it _is _enclosed," Xerxes replied. "Mostly, anyway. You can only really get into it through a bunch of elevators from various points on the Citadel. Or, failing that, there are specific rapid transit routes that go through there." He then nodded. "But it's actually a lot nicer than one glance at the exterior can tell you. Trust me, Jodie; I work there."

Jodie blinked. "You do?" she asked. "That must be nice."

"It is," he says. "The Presidium is really a good place to go for my line of work. It's where all the rich people go, anyway, so…"

Jodie frowned, looking at the turian as she shifted her position. "And what _is _your line of work?" she asked.

"Me?" Xerxes said. "I'm an information broker."

Jodie was taken off-guard by this, as her slight shift away from Xerxes showed. "An information broker?" she asked. "And you're in the Presidium?"

"Yes," Xerxes replied. "I'm part of a smaller information firm."

"So why go there?" Jodie asked.

"Well, us information brokers have tended to go where the money flows over the past several years," Xerxes supplied. "If the Shadow Broker has taught us anything, it's that the best business is for the highest bidder."

And there, Jodie frowned. "The Shadow Broker?" she asked. "He sounds like a big person in your field."

"That's _quite_ the understatement," said Xerxes. "The Shadow Broker is ruthless and mysterious, but I'll be damned if he isn't the best in his profession. I don't know how he does it, but he's got all the dirty secrets of the galaxy at his fingertips. If it's a dirty secret, he's got it. If it can start a war in eight minutes, he's got it. And he only sells to the highest bidder."

Jodie shuddered at the thought, and briefly she imagined Aiden reacting in much the same way. _I'll have to remember to be careful, then,_ she thought. _Who knows what'd happen if this guy found out about Aiden…_

"I see…" Jodie said. "But you don't work for him, right?"

"Oh, I very much do," said Xerxes in an obviously joking tone. "In fact, I shine his shoes every morning. Best way to climb up the ladder, really."

Jodie chuckled at this, put back at ease again. "Heh, I'll be he likes to kick his clients in the face," she said.

"Only if he's in the wrong mood," the turian fired back. "Which he rarely is, but you never know." He then chuckled himself. "But no, in all seriousness, I don't work for the Shadow Broker. And I certainly wouldn't shine his shoes. In fact, since nobody sees the Shadow Broker in person, I don't think he actually hires _anyone _to shine his shoes."

The human leaned forward. "Really?" she asked. "So we don't see what he is, and people trust him?"

"His information is never wrong, and he's able to get secrets straight from the top of any government food chain," Xerxes replied. "If your information is impeccable like the Shadow Broker's, you don't really need to see his face." He shakes his head. "But no, I don't work for him. Our information is not up to that level of 'if the galaxy finds out it could cause a war'. Mostly it's background checks for very high-profile clients, especially when it comes to embassy work." He shook his head. "It's a lot more boring than it sounds, really."

Jodie shook her head, looking up at the sky. "Sometimes, having a boring life isn't as bad as it sounds," she said vaguely. She then looked to Xerxes. "I take it there are no opportunities for me there."

"Probably not," said the turian. "What sort of skills do you have?"

Jodie sighed. "Not many," she admitted. "Perhaps the best thing I've got is that I can fight, but I don't know how useful that'll be."

"Well, that depends," Xerxes replied as he leaned forward. "I can't see you working for C-SEC anytime soon, but I'm willing to bet there are some people that need protection. If there's any more advice I can give, I'll say that I wouldn't recommend working for mercs. Merc activity tends to lean on the side of the illegal."

"Hm…" Jodie looked up at the ceiling of the ward. "I guess I'll think of something. In the meantime, I need somewhere to stay." She looked over to Xerxes. "And before you say anything; no, I'm not staying with you. I'm just some girl who returned your wallet to you."

"Yeah, it would be weird if you suddenly shacked up with me, wouldn't it?" Xerxes asked. He then leaned towards Jodie, nodding his head slowly. "There should be a couple of shelters on the Citadel," he replies. "If you want, I can point you in the right direction." He leaned back. "Besides, it's probably the better option anyway. You can start a paper trail over there, and on a place like this, a paper trail is your best friend."

Jodie nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," she said. She sighed, and then looked up. "Well, I have to say, this is quite the change of—"

Jodie was interrupted by the sound of Xerxes' omni-tool pinging. He sat up immediately, quickly opening the omni-tool. Jodie found herself mesmerized as the orange hologram appeared around his arm again, and she watched as he read some message in a script she did not recognize. She nodded, looking away as Xerxes swore under his breath.

"Dammit, I have to run back to work now," he said. "Sorry." He then moved his fingers across his omni-tool, and before long Jodie heard her own omni-tool ping. She looked at it, tentatively touching the holographic display. When it failed to do anything upon first touch, she attempted it again, this time allowing her finger to sink into the display. This successfully opened the omni-tool, and then she saw a message come up similar to what Xerxes had just received.

"Good, you've synched up the omni-tool stuff correctly," he says. He then nodded. "At any rate, with that text, you should be in touch with me from here on out. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

Jodie stood up at the same time Xerxes did, the turian holding out his hand again. Jodie shook it, smiling. "Thank you," she said. "I'll be sure to take you up on that."

"Indeed," said Xerxes. "That message I just sent should point you to the nearest shelter. Stay safe, Jodie."

"You too, Xerxes," Jodie replied. "And thanks. I know you didn't need to do any of this, so... thanks."

"Any time, Jodie," Xerxes replied. "You take care."

And with this, the turian walked over to a… rapid transit station. That's what Xerxes had told her it was, anyway. She found the concept of an on-demand taxi service rather nice, but at the moment she had other things there. She stood by the bench, watching as he called one of those flying cars she had seen earlier over. He then waited as a flying car came in and opened, and she noticed briefly that the car did not seem to have a driver. As soon as he stepped into the flying car, the doors closed, and then the car whisked him off in the direction of the ring that she knew as the Presidium.

She nodded, turning away. "Okay," she whispered. "So I know where to find the shelter, and I guess that's where I'll start thinking…"

Jodie then looked up. "But first, Aiden, I think we're overdue for finding out as much about this place as possible," she said.

The entity hummed, and then Jodie nodded in reply. "Okay. Let's go to one of those Avina terminals and see what we can see."

And with this, she walked off in the direction of an Avina terminal.

* * *

Jodie opened her omni-tool, frowning as she looked over an internet article about human-batarian relations.

_No no, it's extranet here,_ she thought. _Extranet._ She shook her head at the internal confusion before reading on.

It was a rather interesting thing to read, actually. At least then she could be pretty well caught up on galactic events. Already she had read quite a bit about the history of human-turian relations, and how rocky that had been. She had to figure that the turians were likely in the wrong, but she didn't know enough to make a real judgment call. Xerxes had seemed like a nice enough guy, so she figured that not all turians were bad.

Besides, reading up on that passed the time she spent in the shelter's waiting room. She had managed to find the shelter well enough, but since Jodie needed to get paperwork sorted it was taking quite a bit longer than usual. She had already been through most of the interview process to get much of the paperwork, so now it was a matter of waiting for the paperwork to get through. The secretary had warned her it would take a while, though, so she took the time to get herself better acquainted with the strange world she had been unceremoniously dropped in. And there was a _lot _to catch up on.

Jodie read on, looking at the section on what was called the Skyllian Blitz. Her eyes fell upon a name, a human name, obviously. John Shepard, it was. It seemed he was important to the Blitz, as he had somehow managed to single-handedly fend off the batarian invasion of that colony. Jodie briefly wondered how a single man could possibly have done that. Granted, she knew how it was to be able to do things with no back-up, but this was an invasion that he staved off. How would he have been able to do it?

She shook her head, and continued reading on into the history of their affairs. But then she noticed that the name came up _again _when it discussed something about an assault on Torfan. He was present at that, too, and from what she was able to gather he was rather saintly about it, if the mention of rumors that he prevented mass assassinations against the batarian prisoners of war was anything. There was even a mention about how he had somehow invented a kind of hologram technology that allowed the Alliance to weather through the assault with minimal casualties.

She glanced up at where she assumed Aiden was, before turning her attention back to the article. Nobody else could hear it, but Jodie heard Aiden's clicks that indicated that he too found it difficult to believe that such a truly perfect man could exist.

_Next you'll expect me to believe that I'll be working with him_, she thought.

She continued to read on, turning her attention to a section about the cause of such a thing. As she read on, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed, even more than she already felt. She had learned how to adjust to really bad situations rather quickly, but the sheer scale of what she was involved was only just beginning to occur to her. What sort of place had she been dumped in? And what would happen once she was let loose?

She glanced up at Aiden again. _I've got a feeling we're here for a reason,_ Jodie thought. _You think so, Aiden?_

Aiden only let out a series of clicks in reply. That was all Jodie needed to hear, before she turned her attention back to her—

"Miss Holmes?"

Jodie looked up at the tentacle-headed clerk that she had spoken with. _No no, **asari**, _she thought. _Asari._

"Is the paperwork ready?" Jodie asked.

"Yes," she said. "If you will come right this way, we will get that taken care of."

Jodie nodded, standing up and closing the window of her omni-tool's extranet browser. She then followed the clerk into a back room somewhere, where Jodie assumed she would find the first piece of identification she would get in this galaxy.

* * *

"Okay… Room 116. Looks like this is it, Aiden."

Aiden chirped in agreement as Jodie stood in front of a door. It looked like an overly large version of the doors that she might have seen on _Star Trek _at one point in her life. There was a red hologram in the front, and Jodie looked at the key card that she held in her hand. She continued looking at the door for a few seconds more, before she chuckled.

"I can't believe they still use a numbering system like this even in the future," she muttered cheerfully to herself. "Almost makes me feel at home." She then breathed in, looking at the card in her hands. "Well, here goes nothing."

She then passed the card through a small opening to the side of the door. The holographic panel in front of her then color shifted to green, and Jodie took that as a cue that the door was open. And with a single gesture of her left arm, Jodie opened the door.

She was greeted by an unusual sight. The room itself was rather unremarkable, as it looked like a small sterilized room with two beds on it and no desk. Literally, it had the bare necessities to be habitable. Jodie already knew the showers were communal, and she had been warned there were no desks, but she was still surprised by how overly clean it looked.

However, that did not surprise her _nearly _as much as the person that was already lying on one of the beds. Jodie noticed that it was what looked like a slim-framed man who was wearing a strange variety of suit that completely covered his body. This man also had a strangely-formed body, with legs that curved in an odd way, feet with only two toes, hands that only had three fingers… And it wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that he had a visor on which covered his face. The suit also had tubes going every which way, though Jodie noticed that most of them seemed to travel to his head. The suit itself had some embroidered cloth at some points, and Jodie found herself strangely reminded of her trip to Somalia in the way that the red and gold swirls within the fabric seemed to cling on to whatever dirt was nestled in between the fibers.

As soon as she entered, the stranger's helmet turned towards her, and she saw two little lights peer at her. She guessed from the way he sat up as soon as he saw this that the two little lights were his eyes. He then looked at her, letting out a yawn as he stretched his arms.

"Huh, a new roommate already?" he asked as soon as he was settled at the edge of the bed. As Jodie noticed that he seemed to be given a strange kind of Arabic accent via the translator, the strange new alien looked at her. "And it's a human, too. This day just keeps getting more and more interesting."

Jodie chuckled. "You should've seen _me_ a couple hours ago," she replied. She then stepped in, looking at the strange alien before her. "Days that begin with waking up on the Citadel can be interesting. Especially when you don't know how you got here."

The strange alien blinked as she sat down on the nearby bed. "So you're new here?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Jodie replied. She then looked at the alien, and then extended her hand out to him. "Sorry. I'm Jodie. Jodie Holmes."

The alien looked at her, and then extended his own hand. "Kalo'Veera nar Idenna."

Jodie looked at him awkwardly, and then noticed that he hadn't moved to grasp her hand in anyway. She blinked uncertainly, waiting for him to move closer. After a few seconds, she shook her head, and then took his hand herself, shaking it rather quickly.

"Good to meet you," Jodie said. She briefly heard the door shut, and then looked at her new companion. "I haven't seen anything like you around here."

"Well, quarians are a rare sight around these parts," Kalo replied, looking to the wall before turning his attention back to Jodie.

Jodie nodded. "I guess so," she said. "But I don't know. Until today, I've never seen any other alien either."

"Oh." Kalo sat up slightly, looking at Jodie with his head tilted to the side. "So you were in the same boat as me a year or so back, then."

Jodie turned to look at Kalo. "Really?" she asked.

"Kind of," said Kalo as he shifted. "Except for the whole thing that we quarians do not really have a homeworld anymore."

Jodie leaned forward, curiosity coming to her expression. "You don't have a homeworld?" she asked.

"No," said Kalo. He shrugged. "It is a long story. I am surprised you do not actually know it."

"Well, I mean, I didn't know what a turian was when I first got here, so that shows you what I know," Jodie said sardonically.

"Jack and shit," Kalo replied. He then held his hands up, almost as if trying to defend himself. "Um, no offense."

Jodie shook her head, smiling a little. "Oh, no... No, it's fine," she replied. "It's true, anyway. And really, I could use the people calling me on it, so..." She then looked at Kalo. "So if you don't have a homeworld, what _do _you have?"

"One of the biggest fleets in the galaxy," Kalo replied. He then looked at Jodie. "Everyone calls it the Migrant Fleet, even us. And that is where quarians stay for most of their lives. Unless we leave for Pilgrimage. In which case..."

Jodie nodded. "I see…" she said. "So yours is a special case."

"Kind of," Kalo replied. "My Pilgrimage has taken unusually long, but we all have to do it at some point."

"And what do you do on this Pilgrimage?" Jodie asked.

"Well, we go around the galaxy, looking for something of worth to bring back to the Fleet. Most of the time it is a ship that we bring back, but there are other things that can do as a Pilgrimage gift." He shook his head, looking up. "I am trying to bring a ship back, but every time I have the money to get one I have to keep working at jobs just to afford it. And then the job hunt gets harder and harder." He shakes his head. "I _swear _they are doing it on purpose."

Jodie tilted her head to the side. "But they can't do that, can they?" she asked.

"They just do it anyway," Kalo replied. "People do _not_ exactly like quarians around here."

Jodie leaned forward. "Why's that?" she asked.

"Well, it is related to why we live on a Migrant Fleet," he said. "It was a mistake in our past. I am guessing you have never heard of the Morning War?"

Jodie shook her head. "No," she replied. She then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I probably sound like an idiot."

"No no, it's fine," Kalo replied. "Humans only came to the galactic scene thirty years ago. The Morning War happened nearly _three centuries _ago."

Jodie blinked. "It happened that far back?" she asked, astonished.

"Yes," Kalo replied. "It happened three hundred years ago, and yet the quarians are _still _reeling from its effects." He sighed, pulling one of his legs close to him." The Morning War was a conflict between us and the geth."

"The geth?" Jodie leaned forward. "I read about that while waiting for paperwork to be sorted out. I…" She then leaned forward. "So that was the quarians that created them?"

"Yes," Kalo replied, pointing at Jodie.

And then, the rest of it clicked for Jodie. "The geth forced you off your own homeworld…"

"And there you go," Kalo replied. "And ever since, we have been wandering the stars looking for a new homeworld."

"A whole three hundred years…" Jodie looked at Kalo. "I'm so sorry."

"Do not be," he replied. "It was a mistake on our part." He shook his head. "But yes, the rest of the galaxy likes to rub that one mistake in our faces. I get the feeling this ship vendor keeps doing that to me for the ship."

"So why don't you tell anyone?" asked Jodie.

Kalo shakes his head. "Because C-SEC never questions him every time I bring them there," he says.

Jodie nodded, standing up and walking over to Kalo so she could sit next to him. "I'm sorry," she said. She then looked down at the ground. "Look, I… I don't have any dol—um… _credits_ on me at the moment, but… well, if I get any, I'll see what I can do. You probably need the credits more than I do."

Kalo looked at Jodie, and she noticed that the lights behind the visor widened slightly. "You… you would do that for a complete stranger?" he asked, voice soft and in awe.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I've been at the absolute worst point before. It sucks."

"It does, but…" He shook his head. "I cannot ask that of a complete stranger, especially not someone who is bad enough off that she is here."

Jodie smiled reassuringly, patting Kalo's shoulder lightly. "It's fine, really," she replied. "I've... I've lived in worse conditions than this. If worst comes to worst, I can just weather the storm."

Kalo nodded, his gaze turning to the floor. "Thank you," he said, his voice a little shaky. "That means a lot."

"Hey," she said. "Let's just say you and I are kind of similar in that way." She glanced up, casting a very brief smirk at Aiden before she turned her attention back to Kalo.

"Well, given that you have been at a bad point below, I do not doubt it," Kalo replied. He then looked at Jodie. "Are you talking about now?"

The human shook her head. "No," she replied. "I was once homeless on Earth. _That _is pretty bad, let me tell you."

Kalo nodded. "I see," he said. "Well…" He then chuckled nervously. "Here we are, talking about me with you offering to help pay for my Pilgrimage gift, and yet I do not know _anything _about you!"

Jodie chuckled. "You know my name, and you know I come from Earth," she replied.

"I do not think that is enough," Kalo replied. He then shifted on the bed. "How did you get to the Citadel, for instance?"

Jodie let out a soft laugh as she looked at Kalo. "Believe me, I wish _I_ knew," she replied. "I literally just woke up in the Citadel. I don't remember how I got here, but… I know enough about the rest of my life." She then looked up. "I guess you could say that I probably got here because of bad luck."

"For you?" Kalo asked. "I find that hard to believe."

"You never can tell," she said. "I've had plenty of bad luck all my life." She looked at the quarian. "Some of it is something I'd rather not talk about."

Kalo nodded. "I understand."

"Thank you." Jodie nodded, grateful for Kalo's willingness not to overstep his bounds. She then coughed, and looked at Kalo. "So I guess we're in here for a while, huh?"

"I think so," Kalo replied. He nodded. "It is not a bad situation, I must say."

"I don't think so either," she said. She then looked up, hoping to God that Aiden was not going to act against him in any way. "Let's just hope it doesn't get too out of hand."

"I have a feeling it will not," said Kalo. He then looked at his omni-tool again. "Sorry, I was in the middle of something."

"Oh!" Jodie jumped up, immediately getting off the bed. "Sorry! I just got so—!"

"No no, it is fine," he replied. "I needed that. Thank you."

Jodie nodded. "I… You're welcome," she said. She then went over to her bed. "So what _are _you doing?"

"Well…"

* * *

Kalo had fallen asleep rather easily that evening. This left Jodie a little time to stare at the ceiling, looking at where she assumed Aiden would be. She had read up further on the state of affairs of the galaxy, and other tidbits which would probably be important to her getting more fully integrated into the world around her. But first and foremost, there was the moment. And there was something refreshing about having a quiet bed for the first time in ages.

She sighed wistfully, looking up at where she thought Aiden was. "Well, here we are," she said, taking care to whisper it so it wouldn't wake Kalo up. "Strangers in a strange land. This is quite a change from a DPA facility, isn't it Aiden?"

Aiden clicked a bit, and Jodie smiled in response. "Yeah, no surveillance," she said. "Except for maybe that Shadow Broker guy. We should be careful about him."

The entity clicked his agreement, and then Jodie heard him hover close by. Jodie turned on her bed, looking at the air in front of her. She noticed Kalo's sleeping form there, and immediately knew what Aiden was getting at.

Jodie sighed. "I know, Aiden," she said. "Don't worry, I plan on telling people. Just not at the first meeting. I mean, really, think of how awkward it would be if I said 'hi, my name is Jodie Holmes, and by the way I'm attached to a supernatural entity that nobody can see that calls itself Aiden, pleasure to meet you. Oh, and here are the keys to my asylum room so you can lock me back in there too'."

Aiden seemed to chuckle at this, even as Jodie's face took a more serious expression. "But honestly, Aiden, I'm a little worried," she said. "I just… I wanted to be like a normal person. But with all this…" She shook her head. "Now there's no way in hell that I'll ever be like normal people…" She sighed, looking up. "Oh well… At least I have you."

The entity seemed happy with this response. Jodie could tell, even if Aiden remained silent at Jodie's observation. Jodie had gotten to know Aiden well enough over the years to know what his mood would be at any given time, and that proved handy when it came to dealing with him. So for now, he was happy, and she would not have to worry about any objects flying across the room again.

And besides, she had meant it. Sure, Jodie had spent nearly all of her life wishing for a life without Aiden, but at the same time they had been through so much together. They had been through CIA training together, as well as a certain mission that she would _never _want to revisit if she could help it. They had been homeless together. They had fought entities together. Hell, they had even been through a childhood of being tormented by less well-intentioned entities together. Aiden might not have been Jodie's first choice for companionship in this strange new world, but considering that everyone else she knew had been left behind…

Jodie paused, and grabbed an object from the breast pocket of her leather jacket. She stared at the US passport that had her would-be new identity emblazoned within. It was probably stupid of her to attach sentiment to an object that would have reminded her of a final betrayal that occurred just before everything had gone awry at the Black Sun facility, but she found it difficult to care. After all, it was the last thing that Nathan had ever given her, and it would probably be the last reminder she ever had of a life that was now completely beyond her reach.

_Nathan…_ she thought as she thumbed through the passport's pages. She sighed, looking up. _I hope you're resting in peace now… And I hope… I hope to _God _I succeeded in closing the Black Sun. If I wound up in a place like this and the Infraworld still took over the real world…_

She shook her head, putting the passport back in the pocket. She couldn't bring herself to think of the implications involved with that. She just hoped that her sacrifice had been worth it. If she would be denied a normal life back home, she could hope that everyone else was able to live theirs out without the meddling of the Infraworld.

Jodie sighed. "Well, Aiden, rest up," she whispered. "Knowing our luck, we'll probably be pulled into some _other _adventure in the near future."

With this, Jodie pulled the covers over her, and she closed her eyes. Visions of people she had met during her life flashed before her eyes, and it was on this note that Jodie slowly drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N: Okay, here we go with the next installment of this thing! I hope you guys liked it last time, 'cause this time we're about to move the plot forward a bit, with a little thing: how _does _Jodie start to get involved with the Normandy's crew? Well, let's find out, shall we?_

* * *

Chapter 2

As soon as Jodie woke up the next morning, she found that she was actually quite hungry. She was thankful for the fact that the shelter provided food, and she was also grateful for the place to stay. Unfortunately, Kalo hadn't been in the room when she woke up, and she hadn't seen him in the food service area either, so she assumed that he was away doing... whatever it was quarians on Pilgrimage did. So she was left to eat in silence. Thankfully, this allowed her to catch up with galactic news, and any opportunity to do that was a good thing as far as she was concerned.

But alas, she had to go out to the Citadel to find some way of living. So out she was, walking around amidst the crowd. She had to admit, it still felt strange to see so many aliens milling about everywhere. However, that day she felt significantly better about walking around, for at least now she could understand everything going on around her.

And so, she went along with the crowd, taking in all the sights. It was almost strange that she-

"Well, if it isn't the accidental racist."

Jodie paused, looking immediately behind her. The voice had sounded familiar, and yet it sounded twisted by the fact that the voice was now spewing English.

Jodie turned around, and then beheld the asari that she had met at the desk of the C-SEC establishment she saw. She looked rather much the same no-nonsense person she had seen last time, but this time Jodie noticed that she had a pistol attached to her hip. Jodie looked at her as the asari stepped forward, crossing her arms.

"Oh... Uh... hi," Jodie said, her foot twitching nervously. "It's you again."

"It is indeed," the asari replied, crossing her arms. "I see you're here without your turian friend again."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah, I am," she said. She then pointed at her ear. "He actually did end up getting me that translator. And an omni-tool." Jodie opened the tool, and she watched as the orange hologram appeared around her arm. "It's... different."

The asari nodded. "Well, that's Xerxes for you," she said. "He's a nice guy, really, but I keep telling him he can be _too _nice sometimes." She looked up at me. "I didn't tell him what you said about turians, but I probably should've."

Jodie shrugged, looking at the asari. "I... I'm sorry," she said. "Before I came here, I kind of lived a... _sheltered _life." Jodie shuddered a little bit at her own white lie, before looking up at the asari. "Honestly, I... _probably _didn't do my research very well. I just... I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm not accepting apologies on behalf of the whole turian race, so you'll have to take that up with them," the asari replied. "But it's a start." She then held her hand out. "Sura T'lonya."

Jodie looked at the asari for a few seconds before holding her own hand out. "Jodie Holmes," she replied. She then looked up at the officer as they parted. "So what did you call me out here for?"

"To make sure you're okay," said the asari. "Normally, I don't take requests, but when Xerxes personally asked me to look after you, I couldn't say no."

Jodie rose her eyebrow. "You and him know each other?" she asked.

"I've seen him around from time to time," Sura replied. "When you've seen a person enough times, you start to know who he is and a little bit about what he's like." She looked to the side. "I never thought I'd be friends with an information broker, but he's just that nice a guy."

"You don't trust them?" Jodie asked.

"You never can tell with some of them," said Sura. "Some information brokers tend to make your job harder than it needs to be when you're a beat cop." She shrugged. "But Xerxes isn't part of the Shadow Broker's network, so it's fine." She then looked at Jodie intently. "But anyway, he asked me to keep an eye out for you. So just don't get into any trouble and we're good." She then pointed a finger at Jodie. "Also, don't call turians spiky again."

Jodie sighed. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?" she asked.

"Nope," Sura replied simply. "Anyway, I'm on patrol right now, so I shouldn't stay too long. If you need anything, I tend to spend most of my time in this ward."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you," she said. She then crossed her arms, looking ahead. "I'm going to go continue looking for some way to get employment."

"Good luck with that," Sura replied. "And be careful."

With this, the asari turned, and she walked away from Jodie to look at another part of the Citadel.

Jodie shrugged and turned on her heel, looking up at the ceiling. As she began to walk away, Aiden let out a smooth whoosh sound.

She could only nod in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," she said. "Scout ahead, and let me know if there's anything of interest."

And with this, Jodie walked on, glancing to the right and left a few times as she searched for some method of income.

* * *

Eventually, after quite some time walking, she came across a marquee she couldn't quite recognize. Well... she thought of it as a marquee anyway, because she couldn't think of what else to refer to the shop's sign as. Either way, she looked up at the sign, noticing that it blinked out slightly. When the light remained constant after a few seconds, she shook her head.

"Aiden, now's not the time," she said, crossing her arms as she looked at the sign. "I mean, point me to it, but don't take out the whole goddamn sign!"

Even despite her attempt at being stern, she smiled very softly at this, and then turned her attention to the storefront. When she did, she noticed a few musical items on the front. Among other things, though, she recognized an acoustic guitar in the storefront, and a few holographic signs advertising things like sales on used instruments and other items.

Jodie looked at Aiden. "Heh, I guess you've got a point there," she mentioned.

Jodie thought back to the times she had used a guitar. The guitar had been one of the few things Jodie was able to keep up throughout her life, even if she had managed to get massively out-of-practice after being recruited into the CIA by Ryan. Even as a little girl she had some interest in the instrument, even if it was only on the small little bastardized versions of it. Either way, it hadn't really come in handy.

Well, not until she found herself stranded in the middle of some large city in the middle of a freezing cold winter, anyway. She had found a guy with a guitar who had frozen his fingers trying to play it. She needed the money rather badly, and when the man with the guitar offered to let Jodie do what she could with it, she jumped at the chance to play again. Several songs later, and she had walked away with enough to feed both herself and about four other mouths.

And if it paid that well in an environment that was cold enough to almost cause her death by hypothermia...

Jodie exhaled. "Yeah, this could work," she said to herself. She then looked at her newly-gained credit chit. "But I don't have anything on this, so I can't buy anything." She sighed, looking at Aiden. "So what do we do?"

Aiden remained pretty quiet in response. Jodie didn't like it when Aiden stayed quiet, because that usually meant that he was up to no good. She feared that he was going to do something reckless, and then that would never end well for anybody. But she remained silent, looking down at her chit in dismay.

And then, she felt the chit vibrate quite a bit. Jodie jumped in surprise, almost dropping the item in her shock. She looked at the air around her for a few seconds, before turning her attention to the chit, looking for the little display that told Jodie how many credits there were. When she finally found it, she saw that he amount of credits she had on it jumped from zero to about five hundred credits. It was not a big number, but...

Jodie let out a displeased sigh, crossing her arms and looking up at Aiden. Her brows were furrowed in frustration. "You know, Aiden, it defeats the point of getting work to stay in the shelter if you just hack into the chit and give me credits that don't exist," she said, careful to keep quiet in case someone happened to be eavesdropping on her. "People will know I haven't worked for that. What do you think they'll do when they find out I've somehow been getting money without working for it?"

In reply, Aiden chirped a little bit, Jodie's shoulders dropping slightly as she heard the entity go on in his own brand of speech. Jodie then turned to the shop display and saw that there was an advert for a particular price of guitar that seemed a little more prominent than the others. It then blinked several times, and that was when Jodie realized that Aiden had something to do with the hologram looking a little more brightly-lit than usual. She noticed that said price was about five hundred credits for a used guitar. Jodie then looked back to the chit, and back at the advertising, and sighed as the advertising faded slightly.

"I guess you have a point there," she said. "Fine. I'll let it go this time. But after this, you're not even _touching _my chit, got it?"

Aiden clicked once, a rather sharp sound that left little room to doubt what he meant.

"Good," said Jodie. She then inhaled and exhaled. "You better hope this works, Aiden. If they can tell that it's forged digital currency..."

She said nothing more about this, leaving Aiden to ponder the implications involved. With this said, Jodie stepped into the establishment, looking for whatever used guitar it was that was on sale.

* * *

Miraculously enough, Aiden's little credit hack worked, and Jodie was able to buy the guitar with no real issues. It did nothing to allay Jodie's anger, but it got her the guitar, and at the moment that was all she really needed.

"Okay, I have this," she said to herself, picking up the case that she now held in her hand. "So I've got that. But what do I do, and..."

Jodie glanced to the side, and then turned to her omni-tool hand. The specialized glove showed rather prominently, and then she thought back to...

"Xerxes..." She nodded, making her way to the nearest bench. "Of course." She then sat down, placing the guitar case against the bench. "I hope he's not busy right now..."

Jodie looked up at the air around her, before briefly flicking her middle finger slightly. When that failed, she sighed, looking right at the omni-tool glove. She then flicked her index finger, and immediately the orange hologram appeared. She breathed in and then brought her opposing hand up to her omni-tool. She touched a button, and-

Jodie sighed in frustration. "No," she said, looking to the upper-right hand corner of the hologram as she exited out of the random game she had opened. "That isn't where I wanted to go!"

She shook her head again, before touching the... button (though even she acknowledged that 'button' was not necessarily the best moniker for a non-physical object) that she wanted. She froze again, looking at all the contacts she had available to her. Of course, Xerxes' contact information would not be on the top, so she brought her finger up to the screen to scroll down, and-

-and then her finger lingered too long on one of the contacts, and suddenly she found herself quickly having to hit the cancel call "button" for the Citadel's emergency services.

She then breathed in and out nervously, looking up at the air around her. She took a few breaths to calm herself, and then closed her eyes. She brought her finger forward again, this time making sure to be a little quicker with it. When she opened her eyes, though, she found that the contacts list hadn't scrolled down at all. She frowned, and then brought her finger forward again, swiping it through the hologram and then retreating it instantly. It moved exactly an eighth of an inch, and Xerxes' name still did not show up at all.

Finally, Jodie sighed, slowly going into the hologram with her finger and slowly dragging her finger up. This time, the motion registered, and the omni-tool scrolled down to Xerxes' name. She sighed in relief, finally touching the call button and getting a hologram confirming that she had successfully started a call with Xerxes.

"And here I thought opening the extranet browser was hard," she said aloud. She let out a frustrated sigh, and then leaned back in the chair, letting the call app ring a little bit. She then sighed, looking ahead as she waited for-

"_Hello, welcome to Moskas and Briers. This is Xerxes speaking, how may I help you?_"

Jodie smiled. "Hey Xerxes," she said. "I didn't know you gave me your work contact."

There was a brief pause at the other end of the line. "_Jodie!_" Xerxes' voice seemed rather surprised. "_Is everything all right?_"

"Well, I'm still getting used to the omni-tool, but other than that I'm fine," she said. "I made it into the shelter."

"_Oh, good, good._" Jodie thought she could hear Xerxes' sigh. "_For a second, I thought you had called saying you needed to be bailed out of C-SEC for falling in the Presidium's_ lake."

Jodie paused, frowning. "Wait, there's a _lake _in the Presidium?" she asked.

"_Yeah,_" said Xerxes. "_Wait, I didn't mention that?_"

"No," Jodie replied.

"_Huh,_" Xerxes commented. "_I thought I did..._" He then gave a disappointed growl. "_Oh well, there goes a bad attempt at banter."_

"Well, I've heard worse, trust me," Jodie replied. She then shook her head. "No, I called because I needed to ask you something."

"_You do, huh?_" Jodie heard the shifting of furniture. "_What do you need?_"

"Well... I'm wondering," said Jodie. "I just recently got a guitar, and-"

"_A guitar?_" Xerxes asked. "_As in, the human music thing?_"

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

"_Jodie, you didn't... you didn't _steal _it, did you?_" Xerxes asked.

"Oh... Oh, no!" Jodie protested. "No, no, I didn't steal it. I'm not _that _desperate at the moment."

"_Oh, good._" Xerxes seemed to sigh in relief, though Jodie could not tell what the electronicized brush of air was. "_Sorry, I didn't mean to judge._"_  
_

"No no, it's... it's fine..." Jodie said. _Trust me, there was one point where I would be that desperate..._ "No, but I wanted to ask... I was thinking of playing out in the street... unless people around here don't do that?"

"_What, like street performance?_" Xerxes asked. "_No no, people do that on the Citadel too._"

"They do?" Jodie asked. "So where would they go?"

"_The Tayseri Ward,_" said Xerxes. "_Mostly, anyway._"

"The Tayseri Ward?" Jodie repeated.

"_It's the... rich part of the Citadel,_" Xerxes replied. "_Well, actually, 'rich' is a misnomer. It's where most of the culture happens on the Citadel. Plays, museums, concerts, musicology conferences... if it relates to the arts, it's there._"

Jodie frowned. "Musicology?" she asked. "You mean people actually study music for more than just playing it?"

"_You'd be surprised,_" said Xerxes. "_But no, aside from that, that's where all the art happens. But in all the times I've been, there have been street performers. I don't think you need a permit either, though if you're planning on using it to stay in the shelter you may have to go to produce some proof that you were in fact working there._"

"Yeah, I figured that might be the case," she said. "What would I need?"

"_I'm not sure, but I could find out really quickly for you,_" Xerxes said. "_It should only take about an hour of research, tops. Go ahead and do your thing, and I'll let you know what can be done about that._"_  
_

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said. She paused, looking ahead of her. "I still think you're doing quite a bit for me when I'm just a stranger."

"_Well, you did return my stuff,_" Xerxes said. "_As far as I'm concerned, that makes you a pretty good person._"_  
_

"I guess so..." Jodie glanced to the side, a pang of guilt settling in her stomach. She wondered if Xerxes would feel the same way if he knew the kinds of things she had done throughout her life... She shook her head, looking ahead. "Thanks anyway. I'm going to try my luck down there."

"_Good luck,_" said Xerxes. "_And have fun._"

The call ended just after that. It was a short call, but Jodie felt that she had what she needed.

With a renewed sense of purpose, she flicked her index finger, and then looked up at the air. She nodded, standing up and collecting her guitar case.

"Well, Aiden, I think we know where we're going," she said. "Come on, let's find this Tayseri Ward."

And with this, Jodie made for the nearest rapid transit station, hoping there was some way to get to the Tayseri Ward quickly and without incident.

* * *

The Tayseri Ward was busy with activity, mostly with a clientele that looked rather high class. Off in the distance, Jodie could make out a building in the shape of some kind of theater, and all around were little amenities like restaurants. Some of them looked downright fancy, but given that she could not recognize any of the alien cuisines involved she had no way of knowing for sure. The area also had plenty of plants around, and it looked like it would be a very, very nice area to take a stroll in, especially for someone with the right amount of money.

No matter what, Jodie felt that she was severely out of place there, and she had scarcely taken a step away from the rapid transit terminal.

However, after a few seconds, her eyes fell on someone. Well, a few someones, actually, all of them looking relatively out of place as well. She saw an asari standing off to the side, though Jodie found it odd that the asari had painted herself a fully silver color. Jodie looked at her, realizing that she was remaining completely still, almost as if she was attempting to emulate a statue. Her eyes then went to the asari's credit chit where it hung on her hip. She watched as an old-looking turian walked up to the credit chit, touched his credit chit to the asari's, and then went on his way.

"Hm..." Jodie rubbed her chin. "I guess Xerxes was right about coming here..." She scanned the area around her. "So where do we go from...?"

Jodie then looked at a bench across the way from where the asari was standing completely still. The bench sat in front of a flower bed, and it seemed like a rather prominent spot considering how much was behind it. The bench itself empty, and it seemed like as good a place as any to set up shop. Jodie would have preferred to sit on a box, but seeing as how she had no box whatsoever, she would have to make due.

She walked over to the bench, setting the guitar case on it and unpacking silently. As she took the guitar out, she placed her credit chit in the case. She knew it was likely a risky venture, but in as high class a place as this she suspected that there wouldn't be anyone crafty enough to get the credit chit. Besides, even if their was, she knew Aiden would probably act to make sure Jodie's chit stayed in the same place regardless of whether or not she wanted him to. While she did bemoan that state of affairs, she knew it would be unavoidable if it came down to that.

So she sat at the bench, sighing as she looked at the crowd around her. Jodie then turned her attention to the guitar's strings, plucking a few of them absently. She had not touched a guitar since she had been homeless. As her hand went up to the pegs and adjusted them, a brief shadow of doubt washed over her. Did she still have the muscle memory necessary?

And then she tuned the guitar, and any doubts she had went away. After all, she still remembered what an average guitar tuning looked like. She finished tuning quickly, and then looked up at Aiden with a sad smile on her face. "Well, here we are again," she said. She sighed, looking at the guitar and running her left hand up and down the fingerboard. "At least I didn't have to borrow someone else's guitar this time."

Aiden clicked, the clicks flying off in a rather semi-amused manner. He then remained silent, and Jodie found herself pausing as she looked at the instrument. "Yeah..." She looked ahead to the people walking by her, and then to her credit chit where it rested in the guitar case. "Well, Aiden, here goes nothing..."

Jodie looked down at the guitar, and then took a deep breath. Her right hand glided across the strings, a rather prominent B-flat major chord sounding from the strings of the guitar. Jodie closed her eyes, tuning out the bustling sounds of the Citadel around her as she concentrated on just where she was: the feel of the guitar's weight in her lap, the feel of her hands moving across the strings and the frets equally, the sounds she heard...

And from somewhere in her memory, she began to sing.

"_Change your heart, look around you_  
_Change your heart, it will astound you_  
_I need your loving like the sunshine_  
_And everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
_Everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
_Everybody's gotta learn sometime_"

As she continued to sing and play, Jodie distinctly heard the shuffle of feet around the guitar case. When she opened her eyes slightly to look, she noticed that there were a couple of people inching suspiciously close to her guitar case. A brief moment of panic caught her attention when she faintly saw them lift her credit chit up, but it was a feeling that quickly dissipated when she saw a human-looking hand touch two credit chits together. Sighing in relief in the space between verses, she closed her eyes again, strumming away as she carried herself through the song.

"_Change your heart, look around you_  
_Change your heart, it will astound you_  
_I need your loving like the sunshine_  
_And everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
_Everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
_Everybody's gotta learn sometime"_

Even as she was already reaching the end of the song, Jodie began to wonder what else she could do at that corner. If the shuffling of feet by her guitar case was any indication, she was doing rather... decently. She was unsure of what to think since hearing someone shuffle by was not quite the same thing as hearing the light plink of change entering an old tin can, but she assumed she was doing decently well. With this in mind, she briefly thought to what she could sing next, even as she concentrated on getting the last couple of notes out of the current song.

"_Everybody's gotta learn sometime_"

She strummed several more bars, and then the song ended.

* * *

When Jodie got home to the shelter, she found that Kalo was already back from wherever he had gone, looking at some strange-looking piece of technology. The quarian looked at her upon hearing the door open, and he was quite surprised to see her come in. His gaze immediately turned to the guitar case Jodie was holding in her hand, his attention temporarily caught by Jodie. His confusion only grew as Jodie lightly placed the case by the bed, and that was when Jodie gave him a smile.

"Hey," Jodie replied. "How'd your day go?"

Kalo sighed. "As well as it could, all things considered," he commented. He then pointed to the guitar case. "What is that?"

Jodie looked at the case, and then looked at Kalo. "Oh, um... It's... my new guitar." She chuckled nervously.

"Gui... tar...?" Kalo's voice sounded rather confused.

The human shrugged. "Well, I had to get some money somehow," she supplied. "And seeing as how I couldn't work with marksmanship..."

Kalo simply continued giving Jodie a strange look. "I still do not know what this 'guitar' is supposed to be," he replied.

Jodie blinked, and then her eyes widened. "Oh!" She immediately had to fight the urge to facepalm at her own lack of consideration towards Kalo. "Sorry, I forgot. It's a little easy to forget I'm not the only one who needs to get used to this place..." She chuckled, bending down and opening the guitar case. "No, this is a guitar."

As Jodie held the instrument up for Kalo to see, he leaned forward, the piece of tech in his hands almost forgotten as he looks at it. The quarian tilted his head to the side, rubbing his chin in thought. "I do not... What is that supposed to do?" he asked.

"Play music," Jodie replied as she sat on the bed. Before Kalo could ask any further, she very quickly strummed an E major chord a couple of times.

The quarian jumped slightly, surprised at the outburst of sound from the guitar. He held this shock for a few seconds, and then relaxed. "Oh." He then chuckled. "Such a simple application for something like that. I am sorry. I must sound like such a _bosh'tet_."

"Well, I don't think you sound like... um..." Jodie shook her head. "A _bosh'tet_. Whatever that means."

Kalo looked at Jodie. "That does not translate?"

"Well, I mean... It sounds like... one of those things that's so specific to the language you speak," Jodie commented. "I guess..." She shrugged. "I guess it's not something good though."

"That it is not," Kalo replied. "In our language, it is something along the lines of "broken machine", I believe. But... It has become quite the swear."

Jodie nodded. "It certainly sounds like it," she said. "No, but seriously, you don't sound like a _bosh'tet _to me. I... I kind of confused a credit chit for an ID when I first came here, actually, so if anything..."

Kalo snorted, leaning forward slightly as the lights of his eyes brightened a little. "Indeed, that is pretty bad," he said. He then chuckled, and then jumped in place a little. "I apologize. I should not be mocking you for that."

"No, it's fine," Jodie replied. "It's... it's true anyway..." She then shrugged, getting off the bed and putting the guitar back in its case. "But... well, I'm actually going to try to get credits with this thing."

"So you are performing it?" Kalo asks. "I see..." He then glances to the side. "I apologize for my ignorance. As you can likely tell, we do not really... _do _music on the Fleet."

"Well, I didn't exactly have much time for this," Jodie admitted. "I mostly picked it up when I was a girl. I got pretty good when I was sixteen, but I haven't really picked it up again since." She looked up. "I was usually... otherwise occupied."

"Doing what?" asked Kalo.

Jodie sighed. "It's... complicated," she said. She then looked at the quarian. "Maybe I'll tell you some day. It's hard for me to talk about sometimes."

Kalo nodded, leaning back on the bed. "I see," he said. "I... I am sorry I asked."

"No no, don't apologize for asking," Jodie replied. "It's... It's nothing that's really bad. I just... There's something about me that changes the way people look at me whenever it comes out. Because of it, I've done things I'm not proud of, and... And I know that some people would use me for their own ends. I'd... I'd rather get to know you a little better before I trust you with that secret."

The quarian tilted his head to the side. "Oh?" He pulled his legs up. "So it is one of those... dirty little secrets?"

"You... could say that," said Jodie. "But no... I do want to say it eventually."

Kalo nodded. "I see..." he said. He then bowed his head respectfully. "Well, Jodie, I hope you and I can come to trust each other that well. I will not pry, but I must admit you have made me _quite _curious."

"I guess I have, huh?" Jodie chuckled. "I hope we get to that point too, Kalo. You... You seem like a nice enough guy."

"Um... thanks..." Kalo's composure seemed to crack for the first time since Jodie had met him. However, she paid no mind to it, looking at the quarian as he settled on the bed, looking at Jodie. "So you said you were going to play that... _guitar _for credits, yes? How many credits did you get?"

Jodie's eyes widened temporarily, and then she jumped off the bed. "Ah, _shit_!" she exclaimed, pulling the credit chit out of one of the pockets. "Thanks for reminding me!" She checked the amount in her chit through her omni-tool before walking over to Kalo. "I actually got a few credits, and I meant to follow up on what I said yesterday."

"You do?" Kalo asked, his voice betraying a sense of bewilderment.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Now, where's your chit?" She paused as Kalo leaned over the bed to get his. "And while you're at it, can you help me out with the transfer? I... I still don't have the process down."

"Of course," said Kalo, pulling himself back onto the bed in a sitting position. "Here, allow me."

* * *

Unusually, Jodie was not forced to flee routine the way she was every other time she finally found something she could call home. The feeling took some getting used to, but after a week of being able to fall into the same general routine, Jodie found it was a feeling she quite liked.

Most days would start in the shelter, and then she would go out to the Tayseri Ward to do her thing. The people there seemed to give the most, and it was comforting to not be the only one trying to do some street performance out there, so she grew to like the environment quite a bit. Sure, she was never really one for interacting with the others there, but she felt the money came in pretty good considering that she was an amateur with very little in the way of actual musical training. Still, she got by, and it began to become some sort of a steady income for her.

Occasionally, she would talk to Sura or Xerxes if they were free. Their schedules never permitted much free time, but whenever she was able to contact them it was usually a good thing for Jodie. However, every night she got to talk to Kalo'Veera, who was always looking at technology. He was probably the one constant that was always appearing in Jodie's life at that point, and to finally find a constant that wasn't named Nathan, Cole, or Ryan came as a pretty big relief for Jodie.

As she settled into the routine, she found that she was finally achieving some degree of normalcy, even. And Aiden seemed to go along with it as well: apart from a few instances of fogging up the mirror in the bathroom to write in it and maybe even a couple of instances of objects strangely being pushed to Jodie, Aiden had actually begun to behave himself a little more. Jodie could tell that he was beginning to get restless from the lack of activity, but if he was too restless he didn't show it. Jodie was relieved for that: it was a nice break to have Aiden not act up at all, though Jodie was concerned that it might've been the result of the unfamiliar environment around them. If she had gotten used to it before he did...

But nevertheless, Jodie's life went swimmingly, and for two months she began to fall into a pattern that she had thought was out of her reach.

Of course, Jodie's bad luck always caught up with her no matter where she went. And in this strange world, the first sign that her life was about to change dramatically would only involve a certain piece of news from the rest of the galaxy...

* * *

"_And in other news, the Council is calling a meeting into session early tomorrow to discuss the matter of Saren Arterius. Human ambassador Donnel Udina and Captain David Anderson of the Alliance Navy are both accusing Spectre Saren Arterius of being behind the attack, but what evidence do they have to prove it?_"

Jodie listened to the broadcast from where she sat on her bed. She had barely even known what significance the attack had, so when Xerxes had called about it, she was utterly confused as to why it would be a problem. It was not until she had returned to the shelter and actually turned on a news network that she seemed to understand the scale of the attack. It was not just a simple attack from what she understood, but it was bordering on a full-scale invasion. Further, it was a full-scale invasion on one of the Alliance's first colonies, and the significance of that only occurred to Jodie as she searched the extranet while listening to the broadcasts. There were still people clamoring for the details, and she found that no answers were coming in quickly enough for her liking. Still, she knew those answers would come with time, and when they did she would be there to know what those answers were.

She tuned out of the broadcast just in time to hear the door to the room open. When she did, she saw Kalo standing there, holding some new piece of technology.

The quarian paused, listening to the news report before nodding. "I heard about the attack," he said. "I am sorry."

"What for?" Jodie asked. "I mean, I know the geth are involved but-"

Kalo tensed immediately, the lights of his eyes widening quite a bit. "The geth are involved?" he asked, his voice showing a great deal of surprise.

Jodie blinked in surprise, looking up at the quarian. "You didn't hear?" Jodie asked. "That's... that's one of the many things they've mentioned over the news." She shook her head. "Trust me, I've spent the last three hours in here keeping up with all the updates."

"Interesting..." Kalo sat down at the bed, looking intently at Jodie. "What business would the geth have outside of the Veil?"

"The Perseus Veil, right?" Jodie asked. "I don't know either. And if the news that they're working with a turian Spectre is true..."

"I definitely heard that," Kalo replied as he shifted his posture on the bed. "Why would the geth work with a turian? That... They tried to destroy the quarian people three hundred years ago before retreating behind the veil. What would he have possibly offered them to get them on his side?"

"That assumes it's true," Jodie replied.

"I know," Kalo replied. "But still, I find myself very confused. What would the geth have to gain from this?"

"You're not planning on finding out yourself, are you?" Jodie asked.

Kalo looked at the ground, and then shook his head. "No," he said. "I am not exactly in a position to do that. But if the Fleet gets involved, I may have to return there before I have finished my Pilgrimage." He sighed, looking up. "There is a _very _slim chance of the Fleet being involved, it is true, but you know me..."

Jodie sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I do," she said. She then paused, neither party saying anything. Finally, Jodie coughed, looking up at the ceiling uncertainly. " I don't know, Kalo... I know I should be more involved as a human, but... I just can't bring myself to care that much."

Kalo's attention turned back to Jodie. "You cannot?" he asked. He then sighed. "Well, you grew up in a sheltered environment."

"That's true, but at the same time I feel like I should be feeling worse about this than I do," she said, sighing as she looked up. "I... I know that there's one thing Nathan and Cole _didn't _raise me as, and that was a soulless bitch. And yet... I don't really feel anything about this attack on the colony."

Kalo nodded. "Maybe you just need to clear your head a little," he suggested. "I... I am no expert at humans, but you have been listening to those broadcasts for the past... how long?"

"Three hours," Jodie said. She then paused, looking to the side. "Non-stop, actually..."

"Then maybe it would not hurt to step outside for a second," said Kalo. "Maybe find somewhere quiet to... contemplate. Is that the word?

"I think so," said Jodie. She then looked up, closing the broadcast for a second and then finding the pause to be gratifying. "Maybe that's what it is..." She looked at Kalo. "I'll... I'll go ahead and do that. Maybe it'll help."

"I do not see why it would not," Kalo replied. He looked at Jodie as she stood up off the bed. "Just... be careful out there, all right?"

"You know me, Kalo," Jodie replied. "I've been through worse. I'll be fine." She nodded. "I'll be back in a bit. Feel free to call me up if I'm not back in a few hours."

"Of course, Jodie," Kalo replied.

And with this, Jodie left the room, the silence offering a nice respite from the broadcasts she had been hearing about Eden Prime.

* * *

When Jodie needed quiet, she had to actively search for a place that was out of the way. Walking within the Citadel yielded lots of noise, and on top of that the elevators kept on piping up about Eden Prime. Further, she found that there were quite a few humans in the area: unsurprisingly, all of them were discussing Eden Prime with some of the others. Even some of the aliens talked a bit about the attack on Eden Prime. So no matter where she went, Jodie found herself assaulted by mentions of Eden Prime.

So when she finally found a back alley somewhere that led to a quiet area with nobody around, she sighed in relief. Finally, she had some time to think without Eden Prime constantly being brought up.

She then found herself sitting down somewhere that was relatively out of sight. Jodie looked up, not really caring where exactly she was, though she knew that the quiet hum of machinery was all around her. She thought nothing of this quiet rumbling; besides, the rumbling gave her time to think.

And think she did. It was only then that death toll estimates came to her mind, and the full weight of what happened hit her. People died on Eden Prime...

...and at that, Jodie shuddered. She hugged herself, thinking of what it must've been like for the people who died, being attacked by a synthetic force nobody had seen in over three hundred years. She briefly wondered if any children had been caught in the crossfire. She hoped not, but the horrifying thought still crossed her mind nevertheless. She had known children in a war zone: she still couldn't brush the thought of little Salim bleeding out by the decrepit church out of her mind, nor could she think of all the deaths she had to stop on her way to her target.

At least Eden Prime was quick. It was not much of a consoling thought considering that people still died, though, but it comforted her a little to know that at least Eden Prime could rebuild reasonably well. But still, all the human lives lost... Jodie wondered if-

She then heard a sound from her right. Jodie blinked as the sound died out, and then she noticed that there was a slight dent in the metal that she happened to be sitting next to. With a grimace, she looked over at Aiden, sighing as she realized exactly what just happened.

"Aiden, you shouldn't make these people's lives harder," she said pointedly. "I know we're out of the way, but still."

Jodie shook her head, looking ahead of her again as she stayed with her own thoughts. Her thoughts then turned to the fact that the geth were involved.

Had it been true that artificial intelligence could rebel, after all? Jodie admitted to not knowing the whole situation, and she knew that a definitive answer would be difficult to come by unless she knew everything about the situation. But there was something about this brand of synthetic life staying silent for three hundred years and then attacking a human colony that just did not seem right to her. There had to be more to it than that, she figured, and she was not sure what-

Jodie jumped slightly when she heard a sudden clang come from just above her. When she looked up, she saw that there was steam flowing out of one of the pipes above her. She looked at the steam for a few seconds, and then found herself sighing as it dissipated above her.

"Aiden, seriously?" she asked. "We're trying to think here, not destroy the damn place. Why are you even doing this?"

Aiden clicked at her, though his clicks were so frantic Jodie didn't know what to make of it. She could barely understand what he was saying, his clicks were too frantic.

She shook her head. "Aiden, I'm fine," she said. "Just calm down, okay?"

With this, she shook her head, and then turned to another thought that occurred to her as she settled against the wall again.

The word from the news was that Commander Shepard had been on Eden Prime again, from what she heard. She wondered how he had managed to let Eden Prime end in such a disastrous manner, if he had apparently been as perfect as the extranet made him out to be. Perhaps he had only showed up late to the party, too late to do anything real to help the colonists. She figured it must have been something beyond his control that led things to spiral out of control the way they did.

After all, she knew that some situations could only be fixed after the fact. That old DPA facility where the first Black Sun experiment had failed catastrophically was proof of that. She briefly wondered if there was anything so-

Jodie heard the sound of metal bending from above her. Jodie growled, turning to the direction that she heard the bending from to see that one of the grated panels some distance away had been dislodged, and was now hanging from the walkway. Clearly in there was an indent that could only have been caused by Aiden, if the angle and the size of the indent was any indication.

Jodie's expression softened immediately, and one of her brows arced up as questions began to race through her mind. She knew Aiden well enough to know that he was a bit of a troublemaker if left unchecked, but by this time she knew something was wrong. If the grate had been that distance away, that meant he was trying to call her attention to something. When she coupled that with Aiden's more frantic chatter earlier...

Jodie stood up, looking at the dislodged panel. "What is it, Aiden?" she asked. "Is there-?"

And _that_ was when she saw a greyish-purple form dash by in her peripheral vision. Jodie stopped mid-sentence, and then turned her gaze to the grated pathway above her to see someone in some kind of suit and shawl-like headdress running along the top. Jodie blinked in surprise, wondering what she was doing there and how she had gotten up there. It took her a few seconds to realize that this was probably what a female quarian looked like, as she noticed the tubes on the suit that were similar to what Kalo had on his suit. This quarian was hauling another person with her, a male quarian who looked very grievously wounded from the way the blood seemed to flow down the side of his suit.

And then, Jodie looked behind the two quarians, and noticed that there was a turian chasing them both. She then heard a pop. It wasn't an overly loud pop, but it was loud enough that she could hear it. In a more crowded area, she probably would have missed it, but here where there was complete silence...

"Shit!" Jodie ducked into the area she was sitting in. Her eyes turned to the turian, though she noticed that the attacking turian didn't seem to notice she had been there. Instead, the turian chased after the two quarians, and when Jodie looked up she saw the turian fire at them.

And then her mind started working in overdrive. The first thing she noticed was that this turian was dressed in some blue-looking armor that was decidedly similar to what she had seen on a few turian C-SEC officers, though she noticed that the hand holding the firearm was holding some kind of strange glove contraption not unlike something she might've seen in _Apollo 13_. This glove seemed to light up with a slight distortion every time the turian fired his gun, as if it were acting to solve an issu. This detail was already odd enough, but Jodie further noticed that the exact shade of blue on the turian's armor was far, _far _too light for it to be C-SEC armor. And then, there was the fact that he was indiscriminately shooting at the two quarians, a fact she was made all too aware of when she saw what looked like some kind of line that the projectiles being fired left behind them. As far as Jodie could tell, neither quarian had stolen anything, which would be the only thing that would warrant being chased. And even if they had, Jodie did not think that C-SEC would resort to lethal measures to stop a pair of thieves. Further, Jodie knew that she had yet to shoot a weapon that used mass accelerators; however, her gut told her that the sounds she was hearing were too soft even for those kinds of weapons.

When she put the pieces together, she realized that it was almost as if the two quarians were being hunted by someone who did not want anyone to know she existed.

"Dammit..." Jodie looked at the air as she whispered this much. "Aiden, get over there and keep them safe! I'll find a way to get up there!"

Jodie didn't even wait for Aiden to respond before she began bolting in the direction the turian and the two quarians had run off in.

As she ran, Jodie glanced up every so often, making sure they were still within her line of sight. After all, if she couldn't keep herself close enough to them, Aiden would not be able to help them. So she continued running forward, sprinting as fast as she could to keep pace with the turian. She looked to the pathway above her frequently, looking for some way up to the area where she could be of a little more help...

And then they turned an abrupt corner. Jodie almost slipped at the abrupt change of direction, only saved by the fact that she almost crashed into a nearby support column. Jodie turned this to her advantage, though, splaying her hands against the hard metal and using it to push off in the right direction. This gave her a temporary boost in speed, but unfortunately her curve had been far too wide compared to what the turian had, so Jodie was actually a little behind where she was before.

Jodie growled lightly to herself, willing herself to run faster than she ever had before. She was fast, but the turian was just as fast, if not a little faster. And so, as the turian navigated the passageway above, Jodie found herself running quickly, her pulse pounding in her ears as she raced to keep up with the turian in question. She faintly heard the quiet pops again, and a pained cry above her told Jodie that whoever this turian was chasing had gotten injured in some capacity.

_Dammit, this is getting nowhere_, Jodie thought. _There's gotta be..._

"Aiden, concentrate on slowing him down!" she whispered. "I think there might be a way to slow him down long enough for me to catch up!"

But Aiden had already thought two steps ahead of Jodie. Jodie turned her attention back up to where the turian was, but just as she had set her eyes on him she watched as a panel loudly and violently gave way underneath the turian pursuer. Said pursuer lost his footing almost immediately, and while he did not fall to Jodie's level he did fall face-first into the grate beneath him. The turian let out a loud groan, and quickly scrambled to stand up.

This was the opening Jodie needed. Her eyes had turned quickly to a ladder off to the side, and reaching her hand out she managed to grab a hold of one of the rungs, ascending the ladder two rungs at a time. By the time the turian had resumed chasing the two quarians, Jodie was already on the same level, her footsteps a little quieter. She leapt over the area her turian pursuer had stumbled on, and now Jodie was caught up, with the two quarians being pursued in sight.

_Good..._ she thought. _Aiden, keep them safe!_

Jodie's warning came just in time, for the turian raised his weapon (a pistol with a very obvious suppressor on it, Jodie noted) at the two quarians. Jodie recognized Aiden's watery force shield come up almost immediately, blocking the mass accelerated projectiles that would've hit the quarians. As Jodie rushed towards them, she noticed that both of them had sustained a few gunshot injuries, though the male quarian looked as if he had been shot in a much worse place. Jodie watched as the female lumbered off to the side, stumbling slightly as she rounded another corner. The turian shot again in their direction, but Aiden's field had remained in place as the quarians stumbled away from him.

Of course, in this time, the turian had slowed down, thinking he needed to stop concentrating on running and concentrate on getting an accurate shot off. However, before he could shoot the gun, Jodie rushed forward, leaping forward and slamming all of her body weight against the turian's midsection. The momentum carried them both to the ground, the turian's pistol clattering to the ground beneath the grated pathway.

Jodie immediately felt a knee shove into her stomach. It was not enough force to wind her, but it was just enough force to get her a little away from the turian in front of her. She could not react before the turian's opposite foot planted itself against her left shoulder, but she was able to shift to the side slightly to avoid being forced to the ground by this turian. However, she still felt the blow hit rather hard, and she found she had to brace against the railing behind her for support. The turian went in for another kick as he got to his feet, but Jodie was ready for this, and her other hand came up and deflected the blow before it could do any really serious damage.

When she deflected the blow, though, Jodie's hands splayed out on the grating beneath her. She pushed off the grating immediately, getting to her feet quickly and turning around as she did so. As she got to her feet, Jodie's elbow jutted out, catching the turian in the chest. This sent him stumbling back a little bit, but he looked completely unharmed by the blow since he regained his footing almost immediately. Jodie, meanwhile, felt some pain shoot up her elbow, and she let out a rather loud grunt as she took a few steps back, getting into a fighting position.

The turian looked at her briefly, Jodie inhaling and exhaling harshly to calm herself. The turian's gaze was wild, and just a little confused.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "This isn't any of your business! What if they're breaking the law?"

Jodie breathed in once before responding. "It probably isn't my business," she admitted. "But what C-SEC officer would shoot at two quarians unless they were shooting back?"

"That's none of your damn business!"

The turian yanked his glove off quickly before lunging forward, Jodie jumping back just in time to dodge a scratching motion from the turian in question. Jodie noticed that the turian's claws looked rather sharp, and made a note to avoid them as she ducked beneath his outstretched claws. She rolled back, getting to her feet quickly and jumping back into the fray. She glanced at the turian's throat, and then brought her fist forward. Her fist collided with the hard leather flesh of the turian's neck, but this did not seem to phase the turian a single bit. Rather, he grabbed her wrist rather hard, Jodie barely managing to dodge the swipe from his opposite hand. The turian then yanked hard, pulling Jodie behind him and causing her to hit the grated walkway. Jodie was able to roll back to her feet, but she felt a searing heat imprint itself on the back of her right shoulder, a pain that made her momentarily wince.

However, by then the adrenalin had taken over, and so Jodie stood back up, ducking immediately when the turian aimed some kind of roundhouse kick at her head. She sensed an opportunity, rolling underneath the leg in the air. As she rolled back to her feet, she grabbed a hold of the leg rooted to the ground, and then she shoved forward with all her might. She was rewarded with the turian grunting as his body collided with the walkway beneath him, Jodie barely managing to dodge a kick to the face from this position.

Jodie immediately got back to her feet, looking at the turian in question as she moved in for a punch to the head. However, the turian's hand immediately shot up, and Jodie found her punch getting redirected to the grating. Hot pain splashed across her hand, but before Jodie could get anything else, she felt the turian's other hand grasp at her throat, constricting her airflow immediately. Her eyes widened as he then pushed them so that Jodie's back was on the metal grate beneath them. Jodie's free hand shot to her throat, trying to get some kind of purchase as her legs began to move, trying to get some purchase against the turian right before he pinned one of his legs over hers.

However, before more than a few seconds could pass, Jodie saw the turian's throat get constricted by an invisible hand. The turian's eyes bulged almost immediately, and then his grip on Jodie's throat loosened just enough that her airway was able to open slightly. Jodie gasped the air in as the turian began to claw at the invisible hand that was stroking him. Silently, Jodie thanked Aiden for stepping in, and then she brought her legs straight up to her chest and kicked the turian away with all her might.

This caused the turian to stumble back, the alien falling as he struggled for air. Jodie, not one to waste her opportunities, immediately powered through her brief coughing fit and got back to her feet, the adrenalin still coursing through her system as she raised her boot and aimed it straight at the turian's neck. She squeezed her eyes shut, and then slammed her foot down as hard as she could.

The pop she heard then was quite different from the one she had heard a few minutes earlier, and the minute she heard it she felt the turian still beneath her.

Jodie opened her eyes, and then looked down at the lifeless turian beneath her. Her breathing suddenly came in labored, shallow breaths, and she found herself stepping back as she looked at the lifeless being in front of her. Even after everything she had been through in her life, Jodie found she still could never get used to the sight of a dead body, something that she was all too aware of seeing this sentient being laid out before her for the first time.

She took a few breaths to steady herself, closing her eyes. _He would've killed those quarians if you hadn't stepped in_, she said to herself. _Pull yourself together, Jodie. Pull yourself together..._

Her breathing eventually slowed, and then she opened her eyes. The pain in her shoulder began to ease itself back into Jodie's awareness, and the pain was suddenly acute enough that she was shocked back into reality.

She then shakily stood up, looking down the pathway to see that the two quarians were laying further down the path from her. Using the railing to steady her steps, Jodie walked forward, the female quarian looking at Jodie nervously. The male quarian laid slumped against the floor. From what Jodie could tell, the man was not even breathing, and she had a hunch that she was already too late to save him.

That did not matter to her, though, because at least the lady was still alive.

Jodie steadied herself in front of the female quarian, and then she knelt down to her level. The female quarian twitched, her arm coming up quickly to try to shove Jodie away. However, Jodie anticipated this, and then she slowly caressed the woman's other arm as she redirected the weak shove.

"It's all right," Jodie reassured her. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm a friend."

The quarian looked up at Jodie, her eyes wide with terror. However, as time passed, Jodie remained there in front of her, remaining calm and simply looking at the quarian woman with a reassuring look on her face. Slowly, Jodie noticed the quarian relaxing under her gaze, until most of the fear finally fled from her eyes.

"I... Keelah..." she said, her voice containing heavy hints of a not-quite-Slavic accent. "Why...?"

"I don't know," Jodie replied. "All I know is, you were getting chased, someone was shooting at you..." She shook her head. "That doesn't matter." Jodie then looked the quarian over, seeing how she was bleeding on her right shoulder. "Can you move?"

"I... I can..." she said.

Jodie nodded, positioning herself to hoist the quarian to her feet as she placed her arm behind her shoulders. "Okay, then hold on," Jodie said. "I'm going to get you some medical attention here." She winced slightly as the pain shot down her shoulder again. "Speaking of which, I could use some too."

The woman chuckled even as Jodie slowly rose to her feet. The quarian held Jodie's shoulder with a firm grip, and then she let out a surprised sigh. "Keelah... I didn't think..." The quarian paused, looking at Jodie. "Thank you..."

"Don't worry about it... um..." Jodie looked at the quarian, her glance beckoning.

"Tali," the quarian replied. "My name is Tali..."

Jodie nodded. "Okay, Tali," Jodie replied. "Hang in there." She then cast a glance at the male quarian. "As soon as we get medical attention I'll get somebody to deal with these bodies, all right?"

Tali only nodded in reply, not saying anything as Jodie heard her sniffle lightly. Jodie began to look for a way to descend from where the two of them were located, shambling forward rather slowly as her eyes looked for any sign of a nearby ladder.


	4. Chapter 3

_A/N: Hey guys, it's me again! So now that this thing has gotten off the ground... well... it's about to get rather wild. So what'll Jodie get herself into this time?_

_You'll see, guys._

_In the meantime, I felt like plugging a bit for a friend of mine. My good friend ValentineDiverseOptics (you know, one of the guys who helped me out immensely with rewriting certain parts of MV3) is currently writing his own take on the SI genre by the name of_ Going In for Guns_. It's a really fun fic, and I suggest you people all check it out 'cause it's pretty great so far. So head on over there and read his stuff! I'd also like to take this time to thank him immensely for the silencer idea that did end up getting implemented into a quick edit I made to the previous chapter, so... yeah._

_Anyway, on with the fic! _

* * *

Chapter Three

Jodie trudged through the streets, not minding the glances of disdain she got as she carried Tali through the ward. She remembered that there was a med clinic somewhere in the ward, she just couldn't remember where exactly it was. She glanced at Tali, who was pretty quickly starting to lose consciousness. Jodie knew that if Tali did that, she would not be in good hands. Being helped to a med bay by someone at least a foot shorter than she was could not have been good, and Jodie knew it was only a matter of time before she lost consciousness.

"C'mon..." she muttered under her breath. "Stay with me, Tali... Stay with me..."

The human looked up, turning her attention to Tali briefly. Tali looked to be sickly, and Jodie noticed that her arm was a little limp. The quarian's eye-lights were still open, though, and Jodie took that as a good sign. She adjusted her grip on Tali's torso, worried about whether the wound had been infected yet. Kalo had told her about their weak immune systems: she knew that no matter what, Tali would get sick in some way. Aiden had already done what he could for Tali as they moved along, but Jodie knew they couldn't take any chances with someone who had a weak immune system. Jodie thus forged on, looking above them every so often.

_It has to be around here somewhere..._ she thought. _But where is it...?_

She took a few steps forward, pressing on despite the ache in her legs and the arm that was supporting Tali. Jodie's heart pounded in her ears, and then she found herself wiping some sweat from her brow. She looked up, hoping-

And then, she saw the tell-tale plus sign above a doorway. The sign had not changed at all from what she had known on Earth, and it was a welcome sign on all accounts.

"There it is!" Jodie said excitedly, picking up the pace slightly. "Hang in there, Tali, we're almost there!"

Jodie rushed towards the door of the med clinic, and with a grunt, she leaned against the door. Tali looked above her, and Jodie could tell that she saw the same thing she did. "Are we...?" Tali asked.

"We're here," Jodie said. She then slammed her hand on the door panel, looking inside to see a red-headed doctor slaving away at a datapad. "C'mon, stay with me now. Stay with me!"

The red headed doctor then turned upon hearing the sound of the door opening. Jodie stumbled in, Tali following suit as Jodie looked at the doctor in fear. The doctor's eyes widened briefly, and then she let out a hushed exclamation in what Jodie assumed was French before she rushed over to the injured quarian. As soon as the doctor came up to them, she grabbed a hold of Tali around the same spot that Jodie was holding her, and then Jodie felt a burst of speed as Tali was carried over to one of the beds.

"_Mon Dieu_, what happened here?" the doctor asked, a heavy French-Canadian accent punctuating her voice.

"Long story," said Jodie as they got Tali to one of the berths. "She was attacked by a turian. She had a friend with her, but he was dead by the time I was able to help." Jodie looked at the doctor as she let go of Tali. "Can you-"

"Are you hurt too?" the doctor asked.

Jodie was aware of whatever had happened on her shoulder. By then, it had turned into a dull throbbing, but... "I am, but it's just an abrasion," she said. "Get to her first."

"Of course," the doctor said as she turned her attention to Tali. She very quickly examined the wound, taking some kind of sterilized wipe from a side table and wiping some of the blood away. "What are you feeling right now?"

"I'm feeling faint," Tali said. "Help..."

The doctor nodded. "Of course." She then rushed over to a set of supply containers on the far side of the room, her steps pounding against the metal floor as she ran. After a few seconds of rummaging through the containers, she came rushing back with a few items of interest, one of which included a syringe. "How long has she had this wound?"

Jodie frowned, looking at the ground. "I don't know, exactly," she said. "I've been looking around the Citadel for the past seven minutes trying to find this place. It's a miracle she hasn't bled out by now..."

"I don't think you needed to worry about that," the doctor replied. "She'll need an immune booster, but the wound itself does not look too severe. There is no mass accelerator round, it did not go too deep... It could have been much worse." The doctor had grabbed a packet of something green. It looked like some kind of green oil, and Jodie could only watch in surprise as she tore the packet open. She dipped her hand into this packet, and then carefully and meticulously applied it all over Tali's wound with a speed that Jodie didn't even know a doctor could work at. "That should stem the bleeding." She then grabbed the syringe. "I-"

"Whoah, what?" Jodie asked. "You're not going to suture it?"

"There is no need in an age with Medigel," she said. "And besides, it wouldn't help her immune reaction."

"But she could bleed out!" Jodie protested.

"She will not bleed out with the Medigel, and the infection has a higher chance of killing her at this point anyway," the doctor replied. Jodie opened her mouth to protest, but by then the doctor turned her attention to Tali. "The Medigel should hold. I'm going to go ahead and seal the suit up before applying the immune shot. Is that all right?"

Tali nodded half-tiredly, and then she pointed at herself where the bullet wound had hit her. "Yes," she said.

The doctor nodded, turning her attention to Jodie. "Um... miss, I may require your assistance," she said.

"All right!" Jodie said as she came forward. The doctor then picked up something from the supplies she had grabbed from the crate, and Jodie faintly realized it was a material to help seal the suit. As the doctor went straight for the suit breach, Jodie came forward, holding Tali's arm to the quarian's side and making sure it stayed there as the doctor came forward with the sealing material. She watched as the doctor worked on sealing the suit, a process which actually did not take very much time at all.

The doctor sealed the suit quickly, and then she grabbed the syringe and looked for a particular spot on Tali's suit. She then found some kind of opening within the fabric, bringing the syringe up to that and inserting it carefully. The doctor then pushed down on the syringe, and Jodie watched its contents enter the suit through that port. The doctor then nodded, pulling the syringe away carefully and calmly placing it down. It was only then that Jodie noticed that the doctor was still relatively calm.

"How are you so calm?" Jodie asked.

"Experience," the doctor replied simply.

"And a little luck, I take it," Jodie replied. "What was that stuff you put on her wound?"

The doctor then crossed her arms. "I take it you have never heard of Medigel," she said.

"I..." Jodie paused, looking at the ground. "I guess not. I mean... I've lived a pretty sheltered life until now, so..."

"It certainly seems that way," the doctor replied as she took the packet and walked over to Jodie. "You said you had an ab-"

Of course, Jodie did not need to say anything, for the doctor then saw Jodie's abrasion on her shoulder. The doctor blinked in surprise, though Jodie noticed she did not look too concerned. Jodie could tell from her expression that the wound was not serious by any stretch of the imagination, even if the ruptured fabric of her shirt made it seem worse than it actually was.

"Yeah, you can see it all right," Jodie said. "Don't you need to disinfect it?"

"There's no need," said the doctor. "The Medigel will take care of that." She then held the packet of green liquid, pulling some of the tattered clothing away from the abrasion. "Now hold still. This will only take a second."

Jodie then felt something cool being rubbed against her abrasion. Jodie found herself biting her lip at the accompanying sting, but the sting lasted for only a second before a feeling of relief washed over her shoulder. In a few seconds, the dull throb was mostly gone, and she felt right at ease as she realized that the stuff she had been rubbing on her shoulder was actually rather fast-acting. Jodie breathed out rather easily at this, and then the doctor nodded to the two of them.

"There you two go," she said. She then turned to the quarian. "It looked like a mass accelerator round grazed you. How did you get that wound?"

"Again, there was a turian shooting at her," Jodie said. "I was on the sidelines, and I... I jumped in to help." She looked over at Tali before turning her attention. "I'm sorry I know so little, but I was trying to find this place so much I wasn't even thinking, and-"

"It's fine..." Tali's voice came out a little hoarse, but otherwise it seemed about level with how Jodie had heard it the first time they spoke. "I..." She paused, looking away. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this, Jodie. I'm sorry."

"No no, it's fine," Jodie replied. "If I hadn't intervened, you probably would've died." Jodie then glanced to the side. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I couldn't save your friend..."

Tali nodded, looking down. "Keenah was a good man..." she said. "I should've... Dammit..." She breathed in, looking at Jodie. "Thank you for trying, at least."

Jodie patted Tali's knee. "You're welcome," she said. "If you need time to grieve him..."

"I would like that," Tali said.

The doctor nodded solemnly. "I may need to keep you two here for a few hours to monitor her condition," the doctor said. "Is this all right?"

"Yeah, that's fine," said Jodie. She then sighed. "Sorry, I don't think we introduced. I'm Jodie, and that's Tali'Zorah."

"Dr. Michel," the doctor introduced herself. She then turned to Tali. "Don't worry, you'll be all right, Tali."

"Thank you, doctor," Tali replied. She sighed heavily, and then leaned back as some of her strength returned to her. She closed her eyes, though, and Jodie found herself pulling her legs close as she watched Tali silently grieve for her quarian friend.

* * *

Some time later, Tali sneezed. Jodie looked over to the quarian as she started to sit up, with Dr. Michel looking up from where she was checking some paperwork. Jodie briefly wondered if health bills worked the same way they did in America, but she pushed that thought to the back of her head as Tali sat up, looking at the ground.

"Feeling all right?" Jodie asked.

"The cold is coming in now..." Tali said. "But I think I'll live. Thank you." She looked at Jodie, sighing. "You're still here."

"Of course," said Jodie. She then looked out the door and then back at Tali. "I... I feel like it's my responsibility to make sure you're all right."

"Why do you care so much?" Tali asked. "We only met a few hours ago."

"I know..." Jodie scratched her neck. "It must seem crazy that a sheltered human would want to help a quarian, but... I don't know." She sighed, looking at Tali. "I've been hunted before by people I don't want to find me. I might as well help you get out of it." _I know I wanted someone to say the same for me..._ she thought.

"No," said Tali. "You've done what you can. I... I've gotten myself into a big mess. You don't need to be dragged any further into this."

Jodie tilted her head to the side, even as Dr. Michel put her datapad on the desk and walked over to where Tali and Jodie were seated. "And you still want to do it alone?" Jodie asked. "You almost got yourself killed, Tali. It seems more serious than you're letting it on."

Tali looked at Jodie. "It is, but I can't let you be part of it anymore," Tali said. "This is something I have to do on my own."

"Why, so you can get yourself killed?" Jodie asked. She stood up abruptly, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. If you're going to fix whatever situation you're in, I think you're going to at least need some help. And I can help you." Jodie's gaze concentrated on Tali as she spoke. "You saw me fight that turian. I can handle myself pretty well. And since I saved you... well, I think I'm obligated to see this through to wherever it goes."

Tali sighed, and then turned her attention to the ceiling for a few seconds. When she looked at Jodie, her shoulders were hunched. "I'm trying to fight against a Spectre," she said. "You shouldn't get involved."

At this, Jodie did a slight double-take, leaning forward. "A Spectre?" she asked. "What did you do to-?"

"Was it Saren?"

Tali and Jodie both turned to look at Dr. Michel as she said this. The doctor stood there, having pulled up some kind of chair to be closer to the conversation. Jodie blinked in surprise, and then turned to Tali to notice that she seemed to be even more surprised about this. Tali looked at Dr. Michel, her hands shaking slightly as she then turned to Jodie.

"Um... Yes, it was..." Tali said nervously.

Jodie jolted in place. "Wait, so this is about the Eden Prime attack, isn't it?" she asked.

"It... It is..." Tali looked at her own omni-tool before turning her attention to Dr. Michel. "Are... Do you work for...?" The words sounded almost forced, as if she was desperately afraid.

"No," Dr. Michel said. "And I doubt there would be very many humans who would work for him. As far as I know, Saren is a major xenophobe even amongst other Council races..."

Jodie nodded. "So she's okay then," she said. "What did you find?"

Tali exhaled nervously. "I... I found some audio of a conversation he had with someone I don't know," she said. "A geth had it stored in its memory core."

"You were close to a geth?" Jodie asked.

"I was curious," said Tali. "It got nearly my whole group killed, but when I heard the geth were mobilizing for activity outside the Veil, I had to know what was happening." She shook her head, her eyes closing for a second. "As I said, I found an audio recording there..." She then opened her omni-tool, going through the menus with a practiced ease as Jodie recognized some audio software. "I guess if I show it to you..."

And then, Tali pressed play on her omni-tool.

"_Eden Prime was a major victory_." Jodie jumped slightly upon hearing the rough, gravelly voice of a turian. She assumed this was Saren Arterius, and as she leaned in closer, she looked at the omni-tool with a slight amount of trepidation. "_The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit._"

"_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers_," a female voice replied.

The audio cut off abruptly at this point, leaving the clinic in a shocked silence. Jodie and Dr. Michel looked at each other, both of them displaying expressions of complete shock. Jodie then turned back to Tali as she closed the omni-tool, and then she leaned in close, looking at the quarian intently as she took a hold of her forearms.

"So that turian I fought..." said Jodie.

"That was one of Saren's assassins," Tali replied. "I wasn't able to get away from Saren in time before he discovered I had this incriminating evidence. I've... I've been trying to get it out since then, and that assassin had been hounding me for some time. I don't think he'll be the last one, either."

Jodie nodded. "This is big, then," she said. "I mean..." She then looked at Tali intently, a deluge of questions coming to her mind. "Have you tried telling the Council?"

"I wanted to seek an audience with them, but there is a seven month waiting list." Tali looked down. "I have the feeling we can't afford to wait that long."

"And what about the human embassy?" Jodie asked. "They might be interested in that data, and... and maybe the human ambassador can get the info to them to bypass that waiting list."

"The embassies won't help me," said Tali. "I already tried seeking asylum at the turian embassy, and I was turned away. I don't especially think the human embassy will be different."

Jodie shook her head. "I think they'll be able to look past that fact if you show them your evidence," Jodie replied. "They would listen, right?"

"I do not know," said Dr. Michel. "I hear that Ambassador Udina is an opportunist around the Council."

"Then that's all the more reason for him to listen to what she has to say!" Jodie replied.

"And how do you plan on getting to the human embassy?" Tali asked. "What if there is a wait list there as well? I tried the official outlet already. I can't get it through there..."

"Then who are you planning on giving that audio to?" asked Jodie.

Tali looked Jodie directly in the eye. "The Shadow Broker," Tali said.

Jodie jumped back, and she swore she could hear Aiden click in alarm. "The Shadow Broker?" Jodie said. "I don't-"

"Why not?" Tali asked. "If nobody in any form of government will take it, then the Shadow Broker would, right?"

"And what would he do?" Jodie asked, frowning.

"I don't know," said Tali. "Maybe... Maybe he will give it to them." Jodie briefly questioned the wisdom of the broker giving his agents intel to give to the Council if bypassing the Broker completely would be more efficient, but Tali continued before Jodie could say anything. "And even if he doesn't, maybe there is something he can do to stop Saren."

Jodie's eyes narrowed slightly as she shifted in her seat. _I doubt that he'll give it to the Council, _she thought. _And I'm not sure there's much he would do. __If he's as self-serving as the CIA was... _She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it, thinking it might not be best to say anything about the CIA so far into the future.

"Perhaps that may be best," Dr. Michel said before Jodie could say anything else.

Jodie turned to Dr. Michel. "And... and what if the Shadow Broker only has his own best interests in mind?" she asked.

"Then someone will still be doing something to help," Tali replied. "No matter what, this is too big for me. I can't stay involved in this any longer. I need safety, and if the Broker will provide it..." She glanced off to the side, before looking at Jodie. "By now, I've made my mind up."

Jodie shook her head, crossing her arms. "I don't know," she said. "I don't think that's the best idea..."

"Trust her on this," said Dr. Michel as she placed a hand on Jodie's arm. "At this point, it may be the only option left."

Jodie sighed in frustration, and then nodded. "Fine," said Jodie. "But if this doesn't go anywhere, I'm going to suggest you look for someone else to give this intel to."

Tali nodded. "Good!" she said, and then looked to Dr. Michel. "Do you know where we can go to talk to one of his agents?"

Dr. Michel nodded. "I think I may know someone," she said. She looked over. "Although, he _is _in the Presidium,so it may be dangerous for you two to get close to there."

"Well, if we're going to do this anyway, I guess we've got no choice," said Jodie. She then looked at Tali. "Don't worry about a thing. I'm going to be here to protect you every step of the way."

"Th... Thank you," Tali said. She then coughed lightly, looking at Dr. Michel. "Whatever immunobooster you just used, it seems to be working faster than they normally would. I do not feel quite so sick as I normally would..."

Jodie glanced up at where she assumed Aiden would be. True to form, Aiden clicked in amusement, as if he were chuckling. Jodie had often wondered how Aiden's healing factor worked or even what he could do with it, but she knew that he was always great for that sort of thing. She gave Aiden a small smile, before she turned her attention back to Dr. Michel.

"That is... good," Dr. Michel replied. She then stood up as well, and Jodie followed suit. "I believe I have a contact e-mail that you can use to contact one of the Broker's agents."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you, doctor," she said. "We'll take that to heart."

"You have been such a great help," said Tali. "I don't know how I can-"

"Don't worry about that," said Dr. Michel. "I just hope you remain safe."

"Thank you so much..." Tali said as she began to walk out of the clinic. Jodie fell into step with the quarian, and Jodie feebly waved to Dr. Michel as she exited the clinic behind Tali.

* * *

Jodie let Tali send the message to the Broker's people, even against her better judgment. It hadn't taken them an hour or two to get a reply from the Broker, though Tali did say she had to send a reply to the Broker as well. It was nothing truly terrible, though, and the two of them were able to get something set-up with one of the Broker's agents. They had been told to enter Chora's Den, which was where the operative known as Fist would be waiting to give Tali and Jodie further instructions.

So when Jodie and Tali found themselves sitting within the bar waiting for Fist to finish some business, Jodie found herself glancing around nervously.

_Oh God, of all the places, why did it have to be **this**? _she thought, her eyes darting around to all the various men in the bar.

Jodie knew that, reasonably, no man would want to do anything terribly fishy with her right out in the middle of the bar. From what she could tell, there was enough distractions from her that most of the horndogs in such a situation would not gravitate towards her. There were also a lot of people in there, and she could tell just from a single glance that some of the men there were not exactly there for the asari strippers that danced atop an area above the bar. She also knew that with Tali, nobody would really try anything.

But even through all the rational justifications for why she would never be touched, she still had a horrible, horrible feeling about the place. Every second or so she would glance out to the bar around them, making sure nobody approached them with anything. The last time she had been in a place like this...

_No, no, that happened a while ago..._ Jodie thought. _That happened a-_

"You don't seem comfortable here..."

Jodie was jolted out of her thoughts by Tali. She glanced nervously at the quarian, and then found herself letting out a shaky breath.

"I'm not," Jodie admitted straight away. "I'm not... _fond _of bars." She shook her head.

"Oh..." Tali nodded, giving Jodie a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry I took you here, then."

"No no, it's all right," Jodie replied, waving her hand reassuringly. "It's in the past now, so there's no reason for you to worry too much, you know?" She then chuckled nervously. She then looked at Tali, and opened her mouth hoping for a distraction. "So... you're on your Pilgrimage?"

Tali reared back in surprise, her eyes widening slightly. "I... I am..." Tali replied nervously. "How did you know?"

"I have a quarian friend back in the shelter I'm living in," Jodie replied. "He's a nice guy, actually. Though, I do wonder how different it would be to be on pilgrimage with someone else."

"Keenah was a good friend," she said. "There were... others, as well. None of them made it to the Citadel." She paused, looking at the table intently. "I couldn't lead any of them..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry about," said Jodie. "I guess they must've trusted you a lot to follow you in to geth space."

"They did," said Tali. "And that trust got them killed..."

Jodie nodded glumly. "Look at it this way," said Jodie. "At least you were leading them honestly. I mean, they knew what they were getting into, right?"

"They did," said Tali. "I worry that I led them into danger knowingly, that I could've told them to stay away..."

"You shouldn't have to worry," Jodie replied. "They probably knew what they would have to sacrifice. The fact that they followed you in anyway says a lot about the kind of people they were." Jodie sighed, offering Tali a smile. "Trust me. They were good men, Tali, and you should be proud that you knew them at all."

Tali nodded. "I... I see... Thank you..." she said. She leaned back in her seat, looking up at the chair. "You never get used to people dying around you, you know?"

"I know all too well..." said Jodie, looking down guiltily.

Tali nodded. "I guess you're right," she said. "Now isn't the time to worry about that. We have to get to safety."

"Yeah," said Jodie as she leaned back. "But until then, we're sticking together."

Tali tilted her head to the side. "Why do you care?" she asked. "I mean, we only just met..."

"Well, I... I guess that's just a funny thing about some people," Jodie said. "Trust me, you'd be surprised the kinds of situations I got in where the least likely of people helped me. I still have a hard time believing some people can be that nice." She then sighed, deciding it was time to change the topic of discussion. "So what did you-?"

She then heard someone clear his throat to get their attention. Jodie jumped in her seat a little bit, her attention turning to a krogan bouncer that had walked up to the booth they occupied. As soon as she saw the krogan's business-like look, Jodie relaxed slightly.

"The boss wants to see you two in his office," the krogan said gruffly. "You better get in there. It must be pretty important if he's willing to talk to a suit rat."

The krogan then walked off, leaving Jodie and Tali to look at each other. If Tali was affected by the slur in any way, she did not show it. Jodie could only sigh and offer a sympathetic pat on Jodie's hand. She nodded, and then gestured in the direction the krogan had pointed at.

"Well, we better not keep him waiting," Jodie said. "Come on. Let's go see Fist."

* * *

Fist looked at the two women with a severe expression. He glanced at Tali for a second, and then turned his attention to Jodie, who stood there quietly as he paced around his desk. She never quite liked the feeling of being scrutinized for any reason, though the fact that this was a business meeting helped her nerves considerably. Tali did not look anywhere near as uncomfortable as Jodie felt, so Jodie supposed there was some comfort to take in that. However, she had the feeling just from looking at Fist that this man could not be trusted.

He then placed his hand on the desk in front of him, turning to Tali. "So you have some intel for the Broker."

"Yes," Tali replied. "I need to pass it off to someone else. In exchange, I'm looking for safety." She then indicated Jodie. "And some safety for her as well. She's been helpful up to this point, and if the Spectre found out that she was involved..."

Jodie did not protest. After all, she knew that, deep down, Tali was right. It did not stop her from feeling a little offended at Tali, but at the same time Jodie knew one could never be too careful in such affairs.

Fist nodded. "I haven't set up the meeting with them yet, but I will be doing that soon," he said. "You want this data to be taken care of as quickly as possible, right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "This information needs to get out to someone."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Fist said. He looked over at the two of them, and then opened his omni-tool. "There's an alley around the corner from here. The trade-off will occur in there in half an hour. He'll be there, trust me."

Jodie frowned at this. Before she could say anything, though, Tali interjected. "I'm not handing this information to anyone else," said Tali. "He better be there."

"As I said, he will be," Fist replied. "Now get the fuck out of my office. I've got things to do."

The krogan bouncer at the door cleared his throat. Jodie realized this was their cue to leave. As they left, Jodie could not help but take a glance back at Fist. Fist opened his omni-tool, but before she could see what he was doing, she was ushered out by the krogan bouncer. She felt herself get moved through the club with Tali close by, and before they both knew it they were outside of Chora's Den.

"Now beat it," said the krogan.

With this, he retreated back to the entrance of the club, giving the two women a pointed look as they both walked away. Jodie glanced back every so often, feeling very uncomfortable about the current situation they were in. Something about the brief exchange made her very uncomfortable, but most notably...

They were right at the entrance of the alley that Fist must have referred to when Jodie turned to Tali. "He?"

"The Shadow Broker of course," said Tali.

Jodie frowned, her suspicions more or less confirmed. "The Shadow Broker?" she asked.

"Yes," said Tali. She opened her omni-tool, and Jodie recognized the e-mail application that she was opening. "The Shadow Broker himself said he would be there to collect the data. I'm expecting him to show up. See?"

Jodie then looked at the message intently, frowning as she did so. Indeed, there was the promise that the Shadow Broker would meet with Tali in-person written right there, along with additional instructions for her to meet up with Fist to set up the exchange. She then glanced at the e-mail address, finding that it looked rather... accurate. She couldn't explain it, but it looked like an official address and not some scammer's address.

However, she then remembered what Xerxes told her. An alarm immediately went off in Jodie's mind as she remembered this, and subsequently she looked at Tali with a concerned expression on her face.

Tali then tilted her head just a little to the right. "Jodie?" she asked.

Jodie blinked, shaking her head. "Tali, I... I have a friend who tells me that the Shadow Broker _never _meets anyone in person," she replied.

Tali looked at Jodie in concern. "Jodie, he-"

"I know what the message said!" Jodie exclaimed as she began pacing around. "But this friend is an information broker. He's not part of the Broker's network, but even he can tell you that the Shadow Broker doesn't meet anyone in person." Jodie then pointed at the message. "And if the Broker did meet people, why would he tell us to meet with one of his agents? Why didn't he just set the appointment himself? If he wanted to meet you in person to get the information, he would've told you a time and a place."

Tali paused, and then glanced to the side. "You think so?" she asked.

"I think," Jodie replied as she stopped pacing. "I'm not sure, but with someone as mysterious as he is..." She sighed, looking directly at Tali. "But even then, I don't like anything about this at all, Tali. From the message itself to the fact that we had to arrange it through Fist..." Jodie shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "I think the Broker's up to something. And it's not something good."

"This may still be our best option," said Tali.

Jodie shook her head. "I'm getting less and less convinced of that with each passing second," Jodie said plainly. "It sounds like the Broker's looking out for his own interests, and I don't think he's thinking about your safety or anything like that." She shook her head.

"Then what do you suggest?" Tali asked.

"I... I don't know," said Jodie. She then looked at her omni-tool. "Maybe... maybe there's a way to get to the embassy now." She paused, and then opened her omni-tool. "I hate having to ask for another favor from him, but I don't think we have a choice..."

Jodie then carefully went through the menus to find Xerxes' contact information. "Do you think that's a good idea?" Tali asked.

"If nothing else, it can't hurt to ask," Jodie replied. "At least then, we can be sure there's no other possibility. But if there is, we're ditching this meeting."

"But the Shadow Broker-"

"The Shadow Broker probably won't come," Jodie said. "I don't think he'd be very mysterious if he showed his face to any random person who asked to meet him." She then opened Xerxes' number and dialed that very quickly. "If we can't do anything else, we'll stick with the plan. But if my friend says anything differently, then we're abandoning the Shadow Broker's track." She heard the ring of the call connecting, and then pulled Tali off to the side so their phone conversation had some measure of privacy. Tali looked at Jodie nervously, her hands wringing together as Jodie looked intently at her omni-tool.

After a few seconds, the line sprang to life. "_Hello, welcome to Moskas and Briers,_" Xerxes' voice replied. "_This is-_"

Jodie breathed out a rather brief sigh of relief. "Xerxes!" she said. "Xerxes, you're there! Thank God!"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "_Jodie?_" Xerxes asked.

"Yes, it's me," said Jodie. "Listen, I need your help. I've gotten myself in a really bad situation, and there's someone with me who needs the help too."

"_What happened?_" Xerxes asked. "_Do you need me to bail you out?_"

"No, but I do need to get a Spectre off of my friend's back," she said. "And mine." She shook her head. "Look, Xerxes, I don't know what you know about Saren and his possible involvement in Eden Prime, but trust me: he was behind the attack there!"

There was a dead silence on the other line for a few seconds. Tali looked at Jodie in trepidation. Jodie could not blame her: she herself felt her pulse jump up a few notches, in such a way that she felt intensely uncomfortable. She found herself glancing up at the ceiling really briefly before turning her attention back to the omni-tool.

"_I... He was?_"

"Yes," said Jodie. "And my friend has some audio that proves it!"

"_I... I see..._" Xerxes sounded unsure. "_Jodie, you're in grave danger._"

Jodie chuckled bitterly upon hearing this. "I know that," she replied. "That's why I called you. I thought you might know something..."

There was a brief pause. "_Okay,_" he said. "_Sorry. What did you and your friend try to do about it?_"_  
_

"My friend insisted on giving the intel to the Shadow Broker," Jodie replied. "She tried the turian embassy and was denied, and there's a seven-month wait list to see the Council directly. We've set up a meeting with the Shadow Broker by now. She thinks this is the only option, but the more I see about how he's setting up the intel exchange, the more I think we're walking into a trap. I mean, she refused to meet with anyone but the Broker himself, and the Broker sent her an email that contradicts what you know about him." She shook her head. "It's all very suspicious, Xerxes, and I don't think we should do it. Do you know if there is any way that we can get this to the Council?"

"_Hm... I think you may be in luck, actually__,_" said Xerxes. Jodie then heard some beeping for a second. "_According to what I heard, C-SEC was running an investigation against Saren._"

Jodie and Tali exchanged a look of surprise before they both turned their attention back to Jodie's omni-tool. "They were?" Jodie asked.

"_Yes, but I have the feeling it's a... a kind of 'kangaroo investigation', if I'm using that right,_" Xerxes replied. "_Spectre files are highly classified affairs, Jodie. Even if they got the proper paperwork, the investigator would still have to deal with a large number of redactions. But..._" He paused, and then Jodie heard some more soft electronic beeps in the background. "_Give me a few minutes. I don't know who the officer in charge of the investigation is, but I can try to contact someone in C-SEC to find out. If I can find a way to contact that officer..._" He paused a second time, this silence shorter than the last. "_Or, you could go to Sura._"

Jodie nodded, wondering why this didn't occur to her until then. "I could," she said. "She might know." She paused, looking at Tali. "Is she on duty right now?"

"_Right now... Knowing her schedule, she's probably doing some paperwork in that office where we met,_" Xerxes replied. "_All right. Go to Sura. I'll try to find out who the officer in charge of that investigation is. When you meet Sura, ask her if she's heard from me recently: if she hasn't, or if you haven't heard from me by then, ask her who's in charge of the investigation, and tell her to let me know you're with her. No matter what, stay with her: if I can contact the officer, I'll tell the officer to look for Sura. She can probably protect the both of you until that investigator gets to her. And whatever you do, do _not _go to that meeting you've set up with the Broker. If the Broker tells you he'll meet you in person, I've heard that's not a good sign._"_  
_

Jodie sighed in relief. "All right, I'll go look for her," she said. "Thanks, Xerxes."

"_Any time, Jodie,_" he said. "_Stay safe._"

And with this, the conversation cut out. Jodie turned to Tali, who had noticeably relaxed. Tali nodded, sighing in relief.

"I... I didn't know..." she said.

"Well, I didn't know either, so I can't really blame you for that," said Jodie. "But no, it's good there's another option." She then nodded. "I just hope Sura doesn't make any-"

"Sura?" Tali asked. "Who is that?"

Jodie nodded. "She's a C-SEC officer I know," she said. "She'll be able to help us even if Xerxes can't get in touch with the other guy."

"I see..." Tali said. "I just hope Saren doesn't catch up to me."

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," Jodie said. "Come on. We should get going."

With this, Jodie began speed-walking towards the nearest rapid transit station-which, thankfully, happened to be right there. Tali followed suit as Jodie called up Sura's location, the quarian looking behind her as she joined Jodie in front of the terminal.

* * *

As soon as they arrived by the C-SEC station, Jodie was pulling Tali along with her through the door into the offices. As soon as Jodie entered, she was relieved to see Sura sitting at her spot again, typing away at her terminal. Sura glanced up at the door as it opened, and then turned her whole body towards it as she recognized Jodie. Relieved beyond all measure, Jodie came up to the desk, Tali following her quickly.

"Huh, the accidental racist picked up another alien friend, huh?" Sura asked.

Tali glanced at Jodie with a confused expression. "Accidental racist?" she asked.

Jodie groaned, holding her hand to her face. "Sura, now is _not _the time," Jodie said as she shook her head. She then removed the hand from her face, looking right at Sura. "Listen, has Xerxes talked to you recently?"

Sura frowned. "No, not really," she said. "Is he in trouble?"

"No," Jodie said. "But I had to ask his help, and he told me he'd try to talk to you." Jodie glanced at Tali, and then leaned closer to Sura. "Listen, Sura, do you know who the officer running the investigation into Saren's involvement in Eden Prime is?"

Sura suddenly jolted back, looking at Jodie and Tali in surprise. "The Saren investigation?" she asked. "Why the hell are you interested in that?"

"It's a long story," said Tali. "Too long for here..."

"What it whittles down to is that my quarian friend here has evidence that can implicate Saren in the attack," Jodie said.

Sura blinked, her face remaining expressionless. "A quarian," she said quietly, though her voice betrayed no hint of surprise. Sura leaned over, looking at Tali. "What's this evidence?"

"It's an audio recording I recovered from a geth memory drive," Tali said.

Sura frowned. "I see..." She shook her head, chuckling. "Leave it to the quarians to find a way to get past those things nuking themselves when you try to pry them open." She then nodded, looking right at Tali. "And I'm guessing it's irrefutable."

"It is," said Tali. "Where's your investigator? I'm not handing this information over to anyone else."

"I don't know," said Sura. She then leaned towards her terminal. "Officially, the investigation was closed recently, but if I remember the investigator right..."

Jodie leaned forward. "So they closed the investigation before it yielded any results?" she asked. "That doesn't sound fair."

"Well, Spectres are all above the law these days," Sura said. She scoffed, shaking her head in dismay. "That's why I'm sticking to my C-SEC job, thank you very much." She then typed a few things into the terminal, looking intently at it. Some information flashed on the screen in text Jodie was not familiar with, but before she could ask, Sura nodded. "Ah."

"What is it?" asked Tali as she leaned forward, her head tilting to the side.

"You're in luck," Sura said, clearly pleased by what she saw. "The officer in charge of the investigation was Officer Garrus Vakarian. He's actually known for playing fast and loose with the rules, so if anything he wouldn't be stopped by Pallin officially closing the investigation." Sura looked over at Jodie with a light smirk on her face. "I don't know where he is now, but give me a few minutes to place a couple of calls and he'll be running over here." She frowned then. "Unless Xerxes meant to call me?"

"Yeah, he did," said Jodie.

Sura nodded. "That wouldn't surprise me," said Sura. "He's probably trapped with Executor Pallin." Sura shook her head as she opened her omni-tool. "He's a damn good executor, but you'll find me in bed with a Blue Suns merc well before he stops being a stubborn old fart." She paused immediately, looking at hte ground. "Or maybe Xerxes is trapped with one of the secretaries." She gave a dismissive wave of her hand, and then turned her attention to Jodie and Tali. "I'll contact Officer Vakarian myself. In the meantime, you should stay where I can see you two."

Tali nodded. "Of course," she said. She then looked at Sura as she opened up some contact information on the omni-tool. "Oh, and I may have informed the Shadow Broker about this. I was going to hand the information to him, but..." She then glanced at Jodie. "Jodie changed my mind."

"Well, he certainly wouldn't be happy about that, that's for sure," said Sura. "But don't you worry about him. Once Officer Vakarian gets here, he'll take care of the rest." Sura chuckled. "Knowing him, it'll probably end in a firefight, but he'll just brush it off as 'it got the job done'."

Tali nodded. "Thank you," she said.

"Just sit tight, kiddo," Sura replied. "This might take a bit of time." She then turned to her omni-tool, waiting for the call to pick up.

Jodie nodded, looking at Tali. Tali nodded in turn, and Jodie thought she could sense a great sense of relief within the quarian.

"Thank you..." said Tali. "You've been a huge help."

"I'm... I'm glad I could help," Jodie supplied, smiling at Tali. "Come on. Let's go take a seat."

* * *

Jodie and Tali ended up sitting for quite some time, the two of them watching Sura as she continued working. Officer Vakarian was on his way, according to Sura: personally, Jodie could not wait another second for Officer Vakarian to appear. She had just gotten off the line with Xerxes to update him on their status, and that left everyone in a rather good position. All that was left was to wait for Officer Vakarian to appear. And as the lights from the Citadel shone through the windows behind them, the two women could sigh in relief.

Jodie leaned back in her chair, sparing a glance at where she figured Aiden was hovering. She crossed her arms before looking right at Tali.

"Are you all right?" Jodie asked.

"I think I will be, soon enough," Tali replied. "Do you think the Council will keep me safe?"

Jodie shrugged. "I'm sure they'll find some way to keep you safe," she said. "I mean, this'll help keep lots of humans safe, so..."

"I hope it does," Tali said. She sighed. "I do wonder what the Reapers are, though..."

"Yeah, I heard that in the audio," Jodie said. "Did you find anything?"

"Well..." Tali looked at her omni-tool, and then took a glance around them before shaking her head. "I have the data. I can't show it to you here. But according to what I was able to extract, the Reapers are some kind of sentient alien ship. The geth worship them..."

Jodie's brows furrowed in concentration. She turned her gaze to the floor, a thought occurring to her right then. "Do you think Saren got their allegiance by promising the return of the Reapers?" she asked.

"Probably," Tali said. "Knowing what I've seen so far, it wouldn't surprise me." She turned her attention to Jodie. "Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Jodie looked up. "I guess you could say that it's a combination of my quarian friend wondering about it, and something else..."

"Curiosity?" Tali asked.

Jodie paused, glancing at the air around her before shrugging. "Sure," she said. "We'll go with that." She smiled. "Well, after this, you'll-"

And then her omni-tool opened of its own volition. In surprise, Jodie jumped in her seat, Tali reacting in much the same way Jodie did. When Jodie looked at her omni-tool, she saw that the word processor was open, and that there was a message in a large type-face that she did not remember writing down. She blinked, glancing at Tali to see she had calmed down, before looking at the message to read:

"_LOOK OUT JODIE BAD GUY WINDOW_"

Jodie briefly looked at the message, her breath catching when she realized that the only thing that could type up a message like this quickly enough would be Aiden. Immediately, she turned towards the windows to see a few men wearing all-black armor through the windows. She counted at least nine people in this strange armor, and when she turned her attention away from them she saw that there were a few civilians running away in fear.

When Jodie saw these men draw their weapons, however, she knew something was horribly wrong.

"Holy-Tali, _get down!_"

Jodie shouted this last bit right before harshly gripping Tali's shoulder and pushing her to the ground. Jodie threw herself defensively on top of Tali, right before a hail of automatic gunfire sprayed the rest of the C-SEC office. The glass above them held under the initial blast of firepower, but the sound that came from them was still immense. Still, it gave the C-SEC officers behind them enough time to bark orders before the next barrage of fire shattered all the glass. Jodie felt some of the glass cut rather deeply into her left arm.

"Fuck!" Her arm twitched in pain, but Jodie held fast above Tali. She quickly raised her head, seeing some of the armored people advance. She then looked up at the air, breathing in quickly as she helped Tali into a crouching position. _Aiden, help!_

Jodie looked back at Sura's position to see that she was taking cover behind her desk, a standard-issue-looking pistol in her hand. "Come on!" Sura shouted. "Get over here!"

Jodie nodded, and then looked to Tali. The quarian nodded, and then she and Jodie were running over behind the desk as quickly as they could run. Jodie heard the spray of more gunfire from the armored men, but Jodie and Tali were able to jump behind Sura's desk with no difficulty whatsoever. Jodie's back slammed against the hard metal of the desk, and she looked at Sura quickly as she took a few shots at the armored men.

The asari then knelt down and looked at Jodie and Tali. "These better not be what I think they are," she said.

"Are they?" asked Jodie. "I don't know myself!"

"And neither do I," Tali said. She then glanced over cover, only to quickly settle back in as a mass accelerator round narrowly passed her head. "Keelah, what do we do?"

"Well, we call for back-up, that's what," said Sura. She then opened her omni-tool, starting a call. "Officer Vakarian, we have some armed gunmen on our position, over!"

As Sura began to go into a conversation with Officer Vakarian, Jodie looked past the cover. Her brow furrowed, and then she turned to Tali. "Either Saren is getting desperate, or Fist has a _lot _more resources than we thought he did," she said.

"Keelah..." Tali looked at Jodie. "What do we do?"

"Well, we can't leave, so..." Jodie scanned the area around her. "We could always help."

Tali nodded. "I was thinking the same thing." The quarian then pulled something that looked like a mine from within her suit. "I think this could help."

Jodie looked at Tali, and then bowed her head in confirmation. "I'll try to get a weapon from one of the downed soldiers," she said. "Don't worry about me. Just do your thing."

"Okay," said Tali. She then pressed a little button on the mine, looking at the C-SEC officers around her. "Keep your heads down!"

The C-SEC officers looked at Tali, right as she lobbed the mine over Sura's desk. The C-SEC officers ducked immediately, sensing what it might be. It was fortuitous for them, too: as soon as the mine impacted with the ground, a bright flash shone through the area for a split second. However, Jodie knew in the field of battle that a split second was all it could take.

And indeed, when she peered out of cover, Jodie saw some of the armored men looking a little dazed out of cover. That was when the C-SEC officers resumed opening fire, leaving Jodie to scan the area for anyone who was close enough to them...

And then, she saw one of the armored units fall over, a pistol falling out of his hands. Or, it looked like a pistol, at any rate. It was a little large for one, but Jodie knew that it might do well for her since it seemed small enough. Her eyes then fell on a desk that was close to the pistol, and immediately a small plan formed in her mind.

Jodie looked up to where she speculated Aiden might be. _Okay, Aiden, you see that pistol over there? Get it close to that desk, _she thought. She then concentrated on the desk, getting to her feet and steeling herself to run for the desk.

_One... two..._ _**three!**_

Jodie broke out into a very quick sprint, being careful to keep her head down. As soon as she ran, the pistol on the ground was launched towards the desk at a pretty good speed, skidding to a stop exactly where Jodie needed it to be before she was even halfway to the desk. As soon as Jodie got close to the pistol, she skidded to a halt. As she skidded, she grabbed the pistol with her right hand, and as soon as she had the pistol she turned so that her back collided against the desk.

She then immediately popped out of cover, firing a single shot at one of the armored men. When she did, though, she found that the pistol's recoil was greater than she expected, so she looked in dismay when she noticed that the shot missed. This all occurred to her in a split second, however, and she quickly corrected her aim and fired a second shot. This shot hit the armored unit in his right shoulder, which caused him to stumble back but did no real damage. She watched another's shot take this unit down, and her concentration turned immediately to the armored turian behind him.

She pulled the trigger, getting a shot on the turian's torso just before he released a burst of automatic fire in her direction. Jodie ducked behind the desk, looking to Sura and Tali as they maintained cover. Sura popped out of cover just then, shooting at another person before she was forced back into cover. Tali remained in cover, and that was the point at which Jodie popped out of cover again and shot at an armored salarian several times. However, right as she felt she had a kill shot, the gun clicked, and that was when she heard some kind of strange beeping.

Jodie retreated into cover, looking at the weapon in confusion. "Did I just...?" She then shook her head, remembering what she had read about weapons that used mass accelerator rounds. She then looked at the gun, hoping it would cool down quickly enough for her to use again.

She then settled back, looking ahead at-

Jodie heard a loud boom, and suddenly she was pushed back against the desk with some amount of force. When she was able to open her eyes, she saw that a bunch of dust was floating everywhere. She then found herself scrambling to new cover, noticing the hole that had opened up there. Briefly, she saw Sura and Tali doing the same, Jodie flattening her back against a different part of a desk further into the office as she glanced first at where the windows had shattered, and then to where the hole had opened up.

_Dammit... _she thought. She then glanced up. _Aiden, help us here!_

Jodie turned her attention to the hole, seeing a lot of mass accelerator fire originating from the hole. She faintly noticed that the dust had not settled, this information registering in her head as she fired blindly into the hole that had opened up. Thankfully, the gun did not beep, so Jodie assumed that the gun had cooled down by then. She glanced over at Sura, who was keeping Tali low to the ground while peering out and shooting. Jodie figured that-

And then, she saw Sura light up a little bit. She blinked in shock as the asari then got out of cover, and brought her arm forward. A single man was pulled through the dust at a rather slow speed, and then Jodie watched as Sura fired several shots into the floating target, the target falling to the ground dead after a few seconds.

Jodie sat there in awe for a few seconds, never having seen a biotic before. Sure, she had read all about biotics on the extranet, but she had never seen one in action. It alarmed her how little it was like having Aiden on her side. She had thought of maybe using the biotics to cover Aiden's existence if any governments asked, but she knew that it was impossible now. No matter what, though, she found that it was a rather beautiful sight. And for a second, Jodie felt almost jealous.

The sound of a mass accelerator round impacting against her cover brought Jodie back to reality rather abruptly. _Dammit, Jodie, now is _not _the time_, she thought. She then looked back to the windows, looking at the black-armored troops there._  
_

She distinctly saw that one of the soldiers further in the back had stopped trying to advance on their position, though, and was instead aiming at one of his friends. She then watched as the soldier in question fired several volleys of assault bursts into most of his friends from behind. Jodie nodded, sensing that Aiden was behind that one, though unfortunately that soldier's friends realized that something was wrong, and had turned around to try to dispose of him.

This distraction was what most of the other C-SEC officers needed, and they opened fire on all the troops at the window. Jodie sighed in relief, looking over to the hole that had been blown into the wall to see that the dust had finally settled. There were only a few more black-armored guys running over to them. She leaned out of cover to shoot at them-

-and that was when she heard the most primal scream of rage she had ever heard in her life. As this scream sounded, the black-armored men turned to the source of the sound.

This turned out to be a big mistake, because then Jodie saw a figure rush forward holding some kind of light-saber looking object. With this object, the figure bisected the black-armored soldier nearest him very quickly, green blood spewing everywhere. The figure moved on with a frightening speed, immediately stabbing a second figure in the neck and grabbing the arm that was holding a pistol. By the time the remaining soldiers turned and opened fire, this figure was already shooting all of the armored figures with lightning-quick headshots. As the last of the soldiers fell, Jodie then watched as the figure removed his sword, and then turned to one last soldier. The soldier had barely dropped his firearm to run away before the figure _threw _the sword at him with enough force that it impaled the poor soldier and sent him flying right into the C-SEC office. Apparently, the throw was also so forceful that the soldier only stopped flying when the sword pinned him against the wall just above Jodie.

Jodie ducked in shock as she beheld this sight, her gaze turning back to the figure. For a split second, she thought she saw his eyes glow like an angry entity, before he stepped into the failing lights of the C-SEC office.

Jodie gasped in shock then, for she realized that she had seen this man on the extranet before. Everything from the black crew cut, to his blue eyes, to the scar that seemed fixed in his hairline, to the hard features of his face... Jodie realized she knew that face.

And as the C-SEC officers stood up, Jodie figured that the realization must have dawned on the other C-SEC officers, too. She looked up in shock, seeing Tali slowly rise up from behind the desk she and Sura were laid behind. Faintly, Jodie saw a bunch of other people enter the room, including two similarly-armored humans, a red-crested krogan, and a turian with blue colony markings on his face.

The man in front of them bowed his head, looking at Tali, all earlier instances of his ferocity seeming to have vanished without a trace.

"Tali!" the man exclaimed, his brows softening in obvious relief. "You're all right..."

The quarian could hardly contain her excitement.

"John!" she exclaimed, jumping over the desk. Tali approached the towering form of John Shepard, the two of them meeting in a rather tight-looking hug where Tali buried her head in John's shoulder. "John! I never thought..."

"I got lucky," Shepard replied, stepping back from Tali. "I happened to run into Officer Vakarian while he was investigating a lead." He shook his head, looking at Tali. "You know, you could've told me you were in danger, Tali. I would've come running."

"Really?" asked Tali. "But there wasn't much you could've done. I mean... I was trying to get the data to-"

"-the embassies, right?" Shepard asks. "You should've asked. I'm now on... _speaking _terms with the human ambassador. I could've told him about this." Jodie saw Shepard glare to the side before turning his attention back to Tali. "But me... I'm just glad you're all right. I don't know who to thank, but..."

Tali nodded, looking back at Jodie. "You can thank her," said Tali as she indicated Jodie. "Without her, I probably wouldn't be alive."

Shepard turned to Jodie, and for the briefest of seconds, Jodie thought she could see his brows furrow. His brows instantly returned to normal, though, and he stepped over to Jodie. Jodie took a few steps forward herself, and Shepard walked up to her.

"I see..." said Shepard. "So you helped her out."

"Well, I convinced her not to hand the information out to the Shadow Broker," said Jodie. She then looked at the destruction all around her. "I wish I could say I was responsible for this."

"Just seeing that Tali's okay is enough for me," said Shepard. "I'm-"

"John Shepard, I know," said Jodie quickly. "I... I've read a lot about you on the extranet..." She then chuckled nervously. "I'm... I'm Jodie. Jodie Holmes."

Shepard nodded. "Thank you, Jodie," he said. He then looked at the turian, and it was then that Jodie saw that the turian was wearing blue C-SEC armor. "Officer Vakarian, I think Tali's the quarian you're looking for."

Jodie frowned as the turian then walked over to Tali. "Ah, so that was Officer Vakarian, huh?" Jodie nodded. "I guess it's good he found you when he did."

"He had gone to Dr. Michel for a lead," Shepard said. "It's actually a pretty long story, but I'm glad she's okay." Shepard looked at Jodie seriously. "I don't think I can thank you enough for that. So thank you."

Jodie nodded. "You're welcome," she said. She then looked at the C-SEC office around them. "This is going to take a while, isn't it?"

"Yep." Jodie and Shepard turned to look at Sura as she approached them. "Sorry to have to cut the party short, but I'm sure you've noticed that we were under attack for a bit." The asari turned to Shepard. "Sorry. I'm Officer T'lonya." She nodded to Shepard. "I understand that Tali has some important intel, but as you can see..." She glanced around the office. "I will have to ask you and everyone you came with to stay put for a brief period of time. The testimony collection will go much faster if you do that."

Jodie briefly saw Shepard curl his hands into fists, but Shepard simply exhaled. "Of course, officer," he said. "Make it fast, though."

"We'll see what we can do," said Sura. She looked over at the black-armored men. "I get the feeling this more than proves Saren's involvement. He must've been pretty desperate to keep that intel hidden. I also get the feeling he had his agents impersonate the Broker's army."

"How do you know that?" Jodie asked.

"I don't, but that's what subsequent detective work is for, isn't it?" Sura nodded immediately. "I don't think you'll be held long."

"I hope not," Shepard agreed. "This intel is important."

Sura chuckled darkly. "If Saren was willing to blow up a C-SEC office to keep the intel from reaching the Council, I don't doubt it," she replied. "I'll let you know when you can go. For now, stay put."

"Of course," Shepard said.

* * *

It actually took a little bit of time to clear out the C-SEC office. Thankfully, none of the C-SEC officers around Jodie were fatally wounded, even if there were a few injuries that were rather serious and required some hospitalization. Nobody that was at the scene at the time had moved too far, though thankfully the gathering of certain pieces of information went by rather quickly. Jodie looked at where the glass had cut her left arm, lightly rubbing the place where some C-SEC officer had rubbed it down with medigel.

She shook her head, chuckling nervously at the whole thing. She never thought that any day that began with hearing about Eden Prime would end with her having been in a shoot-out in a police office of all things, but there it was. Jodie was actually surprised that it was as surreal for her as it was, considering that she had already taken part in a shoot-out in a police office at least once in her life. She thought back to that lone police officer, hoping he was still alive. The poor man had actually been a very nice person: he couldn't have known about the fact that she was on the run. She hoped he was still all right somewhere...

She heard someone sit to her left. Jodie turned to look, recognizing one of the humans that came in with Shepard. Her skin looked somewhat naturally dark, black hair tied in a bun. Jodie found herself bewildered at why she was wearing white and pink armor, but at the same time she could not criticize this lady's fashion sense.

"Been a rough day, huh?" this stranger asked.

Jodie nodded, looking ahead of her. "You... you could say that," said Jodie. She shook her head. "I didn't think I'd be rescuing a quarian, but... you know how it is."

"Yeah." The woman leaned back. She then turned to look at Jodie. "Sorry, I don't think we've met."

"That's because I only saw you briefly in that C-SEC office," Jodie replied. She held out her hand. "Jodie Holmes."

The woman nodded, taking her hand firmly. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," she replied. "Systems Alliance."

Jodie nodded. "So you're Alliance, huh?" Jodie asked.

"As is Shepard," Ashley said, gesturing to where Shepard was talking to Tali, Officer Vakarian, and the krogan that had come with. "In fact, we saw Saren there on Eden Prime."

"I see..." Jodie nodded, looking at Ashley. "Are you all right after all that? I mean..."

"I... could be better, I guess," Ashley said with a bitter chuckle. "I was stationed on Eden Prime when the attack happened. I'm all that remains of my unit."

Immediately, Jodie brought her right hand mouth. "Oh... Oh my God..." Jodie looked at Ashley in shock, glancing at the floor for a brief second. "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be," Ashley said. "They were good men and women, and they fought to protect the colony. That's all that matters."

"Still..." Jodie shook her head.

"Again, we did our best." Ashley nodded a little, and then turned to Jodie. "Thanks for your concern, though. I appreciate it."

Jodie nodded, her hand falling away from her mouth. "You're welcome," she said. She then leaned forward, looking at Shepard and Tali. "So where do we go from here?"

"Well, we'll probably present Tali's evidence to the Council," Ashley said. "Hopefully, they'll see what we've known about Saren. And after that... who knows?"

Jodie nodded. "I guess you're pulling me along when you tell the Council, then?" she asked.

"I would say so," said Ashley. "At least, Shepard probably will, after everything you did to help Tali out."

"Well, as long as it gets the evidence to them, I don't really mind," Jodie said. She looked over at Ashley. "At any rate, we're probably going to head up to the Council chambers soon, right?"

"I think so," said Ashley. She then patted Jodie on the shoulder. "I guess we should talk to Shepard, no?"

"Yeah, we probably should," said Jodie. "Come on."

And with this, the two women stood up, walking over to Shepard as he finished talking to Tali and to Officer Vakarian.


	5. Chapter 4

_A/N: Well, we're back with this, right? I won't say too much here, so..._

_Actually, there is the matter of Shepard knowing Tali from an earlier age that I mentioned last time. So, you might be asking "how do I plan on explaining that". Well, I explain it this chapter, so keep your eyes open for that. Also, on the sword... well, you know how it is. You'll see about that soon enough._

_Anyway, let's get going, shall we?_

* * *

Chapter Four

The embassy was a rather small office, with a desk close by the door. As Jodie entered behind everyone else, she saw to rather dark-skinned men standing there, one of them looking considerably rugged and the other just looking... old. The old looking guy looked _very _angry, and he sent a rather frightening glare at Shepard the instant he entered the room.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard," the older-looking man said, his voice straining with barely-contained rage. "Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? All that is bad enough, but then a C-SEC office is blown up too? Do you know how-?" He then set his eyes on Tali, blinking in surprise. All of his rage seemed to evaporate immediately. "Who's this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

"Tali'Zorah has evidence that can implicate Saren in the attack," said Shepard. He then shifted on his feet. "As for the C-SEC office, that explosion happened before I could get there."

"Oh, so it wasn't _you _that blew up that C-SEC office," said the older man. He looked only slightly relieved at this. "That makes my life slightly easier. _Slightly_." He then turned his attention to Tali. "We should start from the beginning. Why did you leave the Flotilla?"

Tali then began to explain in detail. As Tali talked about the evidence involved, Jodie found herself tuning out of the conversation. She had already heard most of the relevant information from Kalo and even from Tali herself; she doubted she needed everything explained to her at that point. Her mind thus wandered away from the conversation, to everyone around her.

As Tali and the others talked on, she concentrated her attention on the more rugged-looking man as he contributed a line or two to the proceedings. Jodie noticed that he was wearing some kind of informal-looking military uniform all in blue. Jodie immediately felt a pang of discomfort affecting her, and before he could notice her she had turned away, taking a sudden interest in the wall across from him.

_He's probably not the same as General McGrath was, but still... _She shook her head, closing her eyes and turning her attention to Aiden. _Aiden, do you think we're going to get involved in... whatever they'll do after this?_

Aiden whooshed, the length of the tone betraying the entity's apprehension. Jodie nodded.

She remained silent as the conversation ran its course. She found herself swallowing a lump that formed in her throat, and then she began actually paying attention to what was said in the conversation.

* * *

Before she knew it, Jodie was standing further back in the Council Chambers, looking on with a few people from the rest of the crew. Tali was there presenting her evidence, and she saw the two men from the office standing by Shepard. She had learned that their names were Anderson and Udina, and that Anderson was the captain of Shepard's ship. That was _all _she had learned, though.

Jodie remained close by them, though, even if she was not exactly close enough to contribute to the Council's conversation. Since there was little she could contribute other than that she saved Tali, she watched the action from afar with the others on the crew. Her gaze turned towards Ashley and Officer Vakarian as they sort of stared at each other before she looked up at the top of the Presidium. She wondered if the human man she had seen with the crew was busy looking out to the rest of the Council Chambers. Jodie did have to admit, she was _not _expecting a governmental chamber to ever be as large as this one. She could not quite place what it was about the room that reminded her of some places of the last DPA facility she was ever in, but-

"Hmph. So the quarian needed a runt to save her."

Jodie was shocked out of her thoughts by the deep, rumbling voice. She then turned to see the krogan she had seen with the crew. From a distance he had looked pretty imposing, but from this closer distance the krogan towered over her. Jodie looked up at the large alien as he stared down at her.

Nevertheless, Jodie was not intimidated. "Really? I'm short?" she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She looked at the krogan with a pointed expression. "Thanks for the... _astute_ observation."

The krogan looked down at her, before turning his attention to the Council meeting. "I'm surprised that turian didn't snap you in half," he said. "You look like the type that would be snapped in half by a turian."

Jodie shook her head. "Well, never underestimate the short ones," she said. She looked ahead. "You never know what can happen there." _And I had Aiden_, she thought. _That helped quite a bit._

"Hmph." The krogan cast a side-long glance at the Council before he turned to Jodie. "Well, I guess I can't say for sure if I wasn't there, but I'm guessing you shot the bastard."

"Nope," Jodie replied. "I just got really lucky that he managed to get into a position where I could snap his neck with my foot." She shook her head. "I haven't fired a mass accelerator weapon before today, actually."

"What, did you get your firearms training shooting old guns?" the krogan asked.

Jodie chuckled at this, giving the krogan a small smile. "I did, actually," she replied. "It's all a sheltered girl can get on Earth, you know."

"So this is your first time off your own pile of rock, huh?" the krogan asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. She then looked over to the krogan, noticing the deep scar in his head crest. "And what about you? You look like you've seen a lot of action."

"I have," said the krogan. He then gave Jodie a rather harsh look. "Don't get too comfortable. This galaxy isn't a nice place, runt."

Jodie could only sigh. "Earth wasn't a nice place either," she replied. "Trust me, I've seen lots of things in my life."

"And so have I," said the krogan. "This galaxy will kick you in the ass sooner or later. Wouldn't be surprised if it happened quickly, actually. That tends to happen to runts."

And with this, the krogan lumbered off. Jodie looked after him, shaking her head as he walked over to Officer Vakarian. Jodie noticed that his walk was deliberate, and that he rejoined Ashley and Officer Vakarian. She saw him say something, but the things he said went unnoticed by Jodie. She could tell from Ashley's subsequent facepalm, however, that it was not something good.

It was then that the human man she had seen with Shepard's posse came forward. He offered Jodie a rather apologetic look as he approached. Jodie blinked, never really having gotten a good look at him until then. She was taken with how someone in the military could still have such a boyishly handsome look about him, and with hair like that as well.

"Sorry about Wrex," he said. "I've only met him recently, but he's not that abrasive..." He shrugged. "I guess he's just used to working alone."

"Well, he is right about one thing," Jodie said. She then pointed at herself. "I mean, look at how short I am!"

"Well, I don't know how it is with krogan, but for me that doesn't make much of a difference," the human said, casting a glance at Wrex. He then turned to Jodie, extending a hand out in greeting. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've introduced. I'm Kaidan Alenko. And you are... Jodie, no?"

"I am," said Jodie. She took Kaidan's hand and shook it rather quickly. "I'm sorry... This whole situation is surreal."

"I can't say I blame you for that," he said. He looked over to the meeting. "I don't know if Shepard has told you much of what will happen after this, yet."

"He hasn't," Jodie said. She glanced to the side. "I know we had a couple minutes on the way up here, and I noticed that he and Tali were talking." She frowned, looking over at Kaidan. "They look like they've known each other a while."

Kaidan nodded. "I know him well enough to know how he is around Tali," he said as he crossed his arms. "But it's not my business to tell you how they met. They've known each other for a while, actually." He glanced up. "They might've talked about you a little. They might ask if you have anything right now..."

"Well..." Jodie shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't really have that much at the moment."

"You don't look like you do," Kaidan commented. "I heard somewhere in their talking that they want to take you along."

Jodie's eyes widened slightly, but other than that she gave no indication of surprise. "They think so?" she asked. She paused, her thoughts immediately turning to Kalo'Veera. "I mean, what I do have... I've just gotten into a routine, and... I don't know if I can give it up so quickly..."

"You might not have a choice," said Kaidan. "You know more about Saren than most in the galaxy, and I suspect that he might try to find you somehow. You've seen how deep his pockets are." He shook his head. "He even bought Fist out."

Jodie blinked, looking at Kaidan with the surprise clearly showing on her face this time. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"It's why Wrex got involved," Kaidan said as he looked at the krogan. "Saren paid Fist to eliminate your friend. It was apparently enough to persuade him from working for the Shadow Broker, because then the Shadow Broker hired Wrex to eliminate Fist."

"Damn..." Jodie looked down, shaking her head. "If we had gone into that meeting..."

"Exactly," said Kaidan as he turned to Jodie. "It might be safer for you on the Normandy. Saren would never dare go there, not unless he's really desperate."

Jodie nodded. "I see..." She glanced to the side, feeling guilty that she would soon have to leave Kalo alone in the shelter. "Dammit... Right when I think my life is going to be normal again..." She shook her head, before looking at Kaidan with her eyebrows drooped in dismay. "I'm sorry. I have some generally terrible luck in life."

Kaidan looked at her expectantly. "I guess it's a long story, huh?" he asked.

Jodie looked up to where she figured Aiden was hanging about, shaking her head in dismay. "_Very _long story," she replied. She looked down, her gaze directed at a point beneath the floor. "I guess I can adapt..." She sighed, looking to Kaiden. "I don't know."

Kaidan offered Jodie a disarming smile, and for a second Jodie forgot what was plaguing her. "I guess we'll see," he said. "It may not be so bad."

"I hope not," Jodie replied. She looked over to the meeting right as Shepard stepped up to a podium. Her attention was then pulled there as one of the Councillors (the asari one, Jodie noticed) made a grand gesture and began to speak.

"Do you think?" Jodie asked, remembering that Shepard had been considered a candidate for the first human Spectre.

"I think so," Kaidan said. "I never thought I'd see this happen in my lifetime."

"Me neither," Jodie commented. "But there we are."

Kaidan chuckled in reply. "There we are indeed," he agreed.

And so, the two of them stood there, watching as Shepard was bestowed the title of First Human Spectre by the Council.

* * *

The ceremony was actually much shorter than Jodie thought it would be. She realized she probably should not have been so surprised at how short it was considering it was just officiating the induction of a new special forces officer, but she thought there would be more to it given that Shepard was the first human Spectre. In any event, though, it happened, and even though Jodie did not quite feel the sense of accomplishment that the entire rest of humanity was likely feeling at that moment, she felt happy for them nonetheless.

_After all, this is a pretty major event for them_, she thought. _What's not to be happy about?_

As soon as that thought crossed Jodie's mind, Shepard came up to the group. He looked in Jodie's direction, with Tali by his side and Anderson and Udina trailing along behind him. Shepard subsequently beckoned Jodie towards him with a small hand gesture. Without hesitating, Jodie walked up to Shepard. Aiden clicked uncertainly as she did this, but Jodie paid him no mind.

"Jodie Holmes, hm?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. She then gestured to Kaidan as Shepard stopped. "Kaidan was just telling me that you're thinking about conscripting me onto the Normandy."

"I am," said Shepard. He then looked behind him to Anderson. "Tali tells me you fended off a fully-grown turian by yourself, which is no small feat considering... well..." He then gestured to Jodie.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Jodie said, giving Wrex a look that was not truly a glare. "Your krogan friend took care of that alreay..."

Shepard chuckled as he looked at Wrex. "Don't mind him," said Shepard. "I get the feeling he's your typical old krogan." He looked at Jodie. "Tali also tells me you kept your own in a firefight, though she indicated you did have some trouble firing a pistol at first."

"I've handled firearms before, but mostly older models," Jodie replied. "That was the first time I've ever handled a mass accelerator gun." She glanced to the side. "But I can get around in places without being seen. I was trained mainly as a stealth operative by the people I used to... _work _with back home."

"Who did you use to work for?" Shepard asked.

"I..." Jodie paused, feeling awkward at being put on the spot like that. She then cleared her throat, a perturbed expression on her face as she continued. "It was a small gang. You wouldn't know who they were." She shook her head.

"Well, that's something to add to the team, Jo-Shepard," said Tali, glancing at the ground.

"I guess it is," said Shepard. "You never know when stealth might be handy, though I do wonder how good she is at it. But since we'll be conscripting her anyway, I think we will have plenty of opportunity to check that." He then looked to Anderson. "I'm adding her to my team, Captain. At this stage, I believe there may be something she can contribute."

Anderson nodded. "I hope you're right, Shepard," he said. "I trust your judgement, but I'm sure the Alliance won't like that you're conscripting everyone you've met today onto the crew."

"What was the Normandy originally built as? Collaboration." Shepard nodded. "I think the Alliance brass can deal with some non-human crew members." He then turned his attention to Jodie. "Do you need to pick up anything?"

"I do," said Jodie. She looked over at the others. "I guess the others do too?"

"Only Garrus, but we have time before the Normandy takes off," Shepard said. "I'll brief you on the specifics of the mission on the Normandy."

Jodie tilted her head to the side. "The Normandy?" she asked.

"Yes," said Shepard. He gave her a brief smile that felt a little lop-sided for some reason. "You're going on there."

Jodie nodded, though for a second she could've sworn she heard Aiden trill in alarm. "I... All right." She shook her head. "Sorry. I'm still processing most of what's going on right now."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," said Shepard. "You should be proud, really. You helped expose a dirty Spectre, and you saved my friend."

"I guess so," said Jodie, chuckling nervously. She nodded. "Well... in this case, we should go get my stuff then, shouldn't we?"

"I would say so," said Shepard. "Let's take care of that."

And with this, Shepard walked towards the elevators, the rest of the group falling into step alongside him. Jodie followed, her heart beating at a faster pace than normal, stealing a glance at Anderson as she moved. She immediately looked away, glancing up at where she assumed Aiden was. Her gaze turned to everyone else, people who she knew would likely find out about Aiden sooner or later, and people who would likely...

Jodie closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. _It's okay,_ she said. _You can do this, Jodie. You can figure this out... You figured it out with Stan and Jay, you can figure it out here too..._

She shook her head, shaking hands she only then realized were feeling rather tense. She then walked on, trying not to pay attention to the people around her as she figured out the best way to approach everyone about Aiden.

* * *

Eventually, though, she returned to the shelter, her heart heavy as she came to the realization that she'd have to leave Kalo behind. She surprised herself with how much she realized she would miss that quarian. She knew that she had his contact information on her omni-tool, though, so she understood that maybe it would not be a permanent goodbye, and that helped ease everything. Still, there was something about not seeing him every day that she would miss.

And as she stood in front of the door to her room, she sighed.

"Well, might as well get this over with," she said to herself.

With this, she entered the room. As soon as she did, she saw that Kalo was standing, probably even pacing away from the door. The quarian turned upon hearing Jodie enter, and then Jodie noticed as his body tensed for the briefest of seconds.

"J... Jodie!" Kalo ran up to her and gave her a very tight hug. "_Keelah_, Jodie, you are safe!" He exhaled in relief. "Please do not frighten me like that again."

"K-Kalo... Can't... breathe..." Jodie forced out.

At that point, Kalo lessened the hug. "I am sorry," said Kalo. "But when I heard that you were involved in that shoot-out in that C-SEC office, and with you not returning here, and..." He sighed. "I am glad you are all right. _Keelah_, Jodie..."

Jodie was at a loss for words for a few seconds, and she cleared her throat. "I... Thank you," said Jodie. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's been a _really _weird day."

"I should say," said Kalo. "What happened?"

"A _lot_," said Jodie as she walked over to the bed. "I ran into a quarian who was on the run from being killed by this turian assassin, and then before I know it I'm trying to protect someone with valuable evidence against Saren."

Kalo blinked. "Saren?" he asked. "The turian Spectre?"

"Yeah, turns out he _was _behind the attack on Eden Prime after all..." Jodie said.

"_Keelah_..." Kalo half-whispered. "Jodie, that... And you survived that?"

"I did," Jodie replied. "Though the fact that I did get saved by Commander Shepard himself didn't hurt, I have to say."

Kalo stared, and by now Jodie was sure his jaw would have torn through his suit and hit the floor. "C... Commander Shepard?" he asked. "Jodie, this is... this is difficult to believe."

"It is, isn't it?" she said, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess that's part of why I still haven't come to terms with it." She sighed, looking at Kalo regretfully. "Unfortunately, Kalo... I'm going to have to leave now. When I saved the evidence... well..."

"What?" Kalo looked at Jodie, leaning forward. "You..." He paused, looking down to the side. "You have been... _conscripted_, then?"

"Yeah," Jodie said, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry, Kalo, but this only came up recently."

Kalo nodded. "No, I understand," he said. "You may be safer wherever they put you." He paused, and it was then that Jodie noticed that his shoulders slumped slightly. "Still, I will miss seeing you here." He sighed, looking at Jodie. "You have been..."

Jodie nodded, walking up to Kalo nervously. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry..."

"Do not apologize," said Kalo, his voice uncharacteristically somber. "It is through no fault of your own." He looked at Jodie. "I hope it is not. I trust that you would not lie to me."

"No, I'm being honest here," she said. "I'm going to have to leave now..." She looked down for a second, and then back at Kalo with a hopeful expression on her face. "I... I have your extranet address, though, don't I?"

"You do," said Kalo, still looking down at the ground. "You have never used it though. At least, not to my knowledge."

"Well... I think I should get better about that, don't you?" she asked, patting Kalo on the arm and giving him a reassuring smile.

Kalo looked at Jodie, and she noticed that Kalo's eyes looked a little brighter behind that mask. "As should I," Kalo replied, giving a slight chuckle. "It has been a strange feeling, having to contact people again. But I can make an exception."

Jodie's smile only brightened, and she nodded. "Good." She said. "Good..." She looked to the door, before slowly turning and getting her guitar. "I just... I needed to get this. I'm sure you understand."

"I do," said Kalo. He chuckled nervously. "I... Maybe if you are in the Citadel again, we can see each other again?"

Jodie nodded, looking at Kalo. "Yeah..." she said. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"As would I," said Kalo. "Be sure to let me know when you are in the Citadel."

Jodie paused as she nodded in Kalo's direction. The two of them looked at each other, with Jodie meeting Kalo's gaze. The two of them looked at each other, Jodie feeling warm. She was unused to this: throughout her life, goodbyes had been hard, cold, sudden, and mostly full of hard feelings. The closest she got to a farewell like this was with Jay and Corey, and even then she had a rather intense feeling of regret that she didn't save their father from the wound inflicted by Ye'ittsoh. But here... There was still regret, but Jodie was feeling... She could not describe it as happiness, but it was a feeling similar to that.

And it was with this that she advanced towards Kalo and wrapped her free arm around him. Kalo was quick to reciprocate the gesture, holding Jodie close to him. Jodie thought she felt one of the pieces of Kalo's suit poke against her body, but she found she could not bring herself to care. The two of them held the hug for a few seconds, with Jodie sighing against Kalo.

They then parted. "I'll send a message tonight," she said. "Once I'm all settled in..."

"I look forward to it," said Kalo. "Until next time?"

"Until next time," Jodie replied. She walked to the door, but paused upon getting there. She cast a final glance at Kalo, looking at the quarian as he looked at her. The look he gave was undecipherable from where Jodie stood, but she had a feeling from the way that Kalo held himself that it was the kind of look he would give when wishing her well.

She gave Kalo one final smile, and then left the room slowly, but with purpose.

* * *

When she stepped out of the shelter, the group made a beeline straight for the Normandy. Jodie had never even seen pictures of the ship, let alone seen the ship in person, and she found herself wondering what was in store for her there. She kept her mind open to any possibilities: after all, she had not had the time to look up the ships of the Alliance Navy, and her own time in various DPA facilities told her that she should be prepared for literally anything.

And it was with this that she stood in the elevator with everyone else. She remained quiet, keeping her guitar case close at hand. The ride seemed to take forever, though Jodie realized this might have had something to do with the fact that it was a rather slow elevator. She wondered what kinds of conversations could be had in there, but she brushed these thoughts out of her mind quickly. She would find out pretty quickly anyway, especially if Shepard were to return to the Citadel a few times. She had the feeling this might happen, and the thought of getting to meet up with Kalo and Xerxes and Sura again warmed her heart.

Her attention turned to the others, who had somehow managed to fit in the elevator without cramming in there. Jodie was sure that Wrex alone would be enough to crowd them out of the elevator, but thankfully that was not a problem. Jodie supposed that her diminuitive height did have something to do with it, but her greater thought was that everyone would get to see the Normandy together. She wondered how the Normandy was laid out, how sleeping accommodations worked, and what would happen with her once she was on board.

But most of all, Jodie was admittedly very nervous about this whole scenario, to the point that it was giving her flashbacks about when she arrived at boot camp to get training as a CIA agent. That same feeling of trepidation came over her, and she found herself trying to calm her breathing a little bit. She hoped that Shepard and the Alliance would not use her for their own ends. If she found evidence of that, she did not quite know how she would be able to get out of there.

_Well, at least I can't get brought in for treason_, she thought. _Unless desertion is punished just as bad here..._

After quite a lengthy period of musing, though, the elevator came to a halt, and then the elevator doors opened out to some dock. She glanced to the side as everyone filed out, with Shepard crossing his arms. She herself stepped out, looking ahead to see that Anderson had somehow beaten them to the Normandy.

And then she turned her gaze to the left, and her heart stopped at what she saw.

There, clamped to the dock through something obviously magnetic, was a ship unlike any she had ever seen before. The hull was in a rather sleek shape, with a series of thrusters jutting out of the side of the ship like the wings of a bird of prey. The ship's nose was curved, and the lettering 'SR-1' was displayed rather prominently on the side of the hull. Jodie found herself rushing over to the guard rail to get a better look. The ship was actually quite large, but Jodie knew she had nothing to compare it to. No matter what, she found herself amazed at what she was seeing.

"My God..." said Jodie, looking at the ship. She glanced up at Aiden, before looking back. "This ship..."

"Never seen anything like it, huh?"

Jodie turned to look over at Ashley as she settled in next to Jodie. "Never," said Jodie as she indicated the ship. "I never thought..." She shook her head. "Wow..."

"Wow is right," said Ashley as she looked at the ship. "I didn't get a good look at her the first time I boarded..."

"You must've seen lots of ships before now, though," Jodie replied. "You're probably used to this." She shook her head and turned to look back at the Normandy. "I haven't seen any ships like this in my life..."

"Well, you're gonna get spoiled now," said Ashley. "I've seen a lot more ships, and not all the ships on the Alliance look quite like this. Nor do they run as smoothly, for that matter." She shook her head. "From what I know, the turians had some hand in designing it. I haven't seen an Alliance ship that looked quite this good."

"Really?" Jodie asked. "They designed it with the turians?"

"That's what I heard," said Ashley. "Something about 'spirit of reconciliation' was how they put it." She sighed, though before Jodie could say anything she shrugged. "Well, you gotta give them credit, at least they know how to design things."

Jodie looked at the Normandy, noticing that Ashley's tone had gotten a little harsher. "Something wrong?" she asked.

Ashley nodded. "It's... It's a little personal," she said. "Sorry. I don't feel like talking about it."

"That's fine," Jodie replied. She sighed, looking out to the ship. "We all have things we don't feel like talking about at some point." She shifted her feet nervously, and before Ashley could ask anything Jodie gestured back to the Normandy. "But no, I've never seen anything like this..."

"Well, you haven't seen the interior yet," said Ashley as she gave Jodie a beckoning gesture. "Come on. I get the feeling Shepard is probably going to give you a grand tour or something."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she said, following Ashley over to the gangplank leading up to the airlock. "I can't wait to see what's inside this ship..."

"Well, I think you'll probably like it," said Ashley.

* * *

Ashley had indeed been right about that. As soon as Jodie stepped inside the Normandy, it was like she was in a different world altogether.

_Well, more different than it already is_, she thought.

She looked around at all the activity around her. There were people running around holding datapads, there were holograms everywhere, the interior was just as slick... And as she walked into what she assumed was the hub of activity on the Normandy, she saw a row of holographic panels all surrounding a holographic display that was projecting an image of the Citadel at that moment. Jodie found herself looking at it, her steps even slowing down a bit as she looked at the hologram. When she followed Shepard further into the hub, she saw that there was even a rather small platform right up close to where the hologram was projecting its image, with a few more terminals lined up next to this platform.

She found her mouth opening in awe of what she was seeing: even having been on the Citadel for a couple of months, Jodie was always amazed at how far technology had progressed. But seeing how it affected the military of the future...

_And I haven't even seen these guys in action_, she noted. She whistled as she turned around.

Right when she did, though, she started, and then ran over to the door on the far right as Shepard directed Tali, Wrex, and Officer Vakarian to go through. She rushed out from where she had her little reverie, falling into step with Officer Vakarian. The door closed behind her as she came to stand next to the turian.

The officer chuckled immediately. "Looks like someone's getting a little distracted," he said.

"Sorry," Jodie said. "I... I've never been on a warship before."

"Well, you're in luck," he replied. He nodded, looking over at Jodie. "Sorry, I don't think we talked."

Jodie nodded. "I'm Jodie," she replied. "And I know you're Officer Vakarian."

The turian chuckled. "Call me Garrus," he replied. "Nothing can make a guy feel old faster than calling them by their title."

"Sorry, Off- Garrus..." Jodie replied. She looked ahead as Shepard stopped off into what looked like some kind of small mess hall. She looked around, looking to Shepard.

"So, here we are at the mess hall," said Shepard as the group walked in. "This is where we have the meals, so there shouldn't be too much I should have to say." He then gestured over to a door just to the right of where the tables were. "And that is where the med-bay is. It's manned by one Dr. Chakwas, and you'll be seeing her if you're injured on the battlefield." He shrugged. "I'm sure you won't mind that.

"And over there..." He then gestured to a large group of pod-looking things that were placed further down the room from the tables. At a quick glance, Jodie noticed that they were quite large, yet not large enough to host multiple people. "Over there, we have the sleeping pods." He looked over to them. "Our crew have most of them checked out, but we may be able to get a spare one for one of you."

Jodie walked to the front of the group, looking at the pods in question. "Room for one, huh?" she asked, looking at Shepard.

"You interested?" Shepard asked.

"I think so..." she thought. "I... I kind of prefer having something private to sleep in, to be honest." She then looked at Shepard. "I mean... it's fine if I have to share, but-"

"Don't worry about that," said Shepard. "If you'd prefer that, I'll take care of it."

Jodie paused, her left hand rising slightly in surprise. However, after a second or two, Jodie sighed in relief. "Oh..." She smiled at Shepard. "I... Um..." She paused for a few seconds before chuckling uncomfortably. "Sorry, I'm not used to just hearing things like that from someone."

"Really?" Shepard asked. "Well, in the future, I can always make a conscious effort to change that for you."

"I... That would be great," Jodie said, a smile creeping onto her face. "Thank you."

Shepard nodded. "We'll talk about that later, though," he said. "For now, we have a couple more places to see." He then gestured behind the group, and Jodie turned around to where Shepard had gestured.

Jodie then paused upon turning around, surprised at what she saw. "There's an elevator on this ship?" she asked uncertainly.

"There is," Shepard said.

Jodie crossed her arms. "Huh," she said. She chuckled. "Sorry, it's just... this galaxy is always surprising me."

"Sure sounds like it if you ask me," Wrex replied as he walked over to the elevator. "Let's get this over with."

Jodie turned to Shepard. The commander simply shrugged, walking over to the elevator and pressing the call button. "All right," he said. "Let's tour the hangar bay."

* * *

The hangar bay was a very spacious place, and Jodie suspected that they would have been able to hold quite a bit more inside of there if the Alliance felt like sticking something in there. As it was, though, she noticed that there was a massive vehicle that looked like a cross between a tank and an SUV, as well as various crates strewn off to the sides. There were also a few weapons lockers over to the side, and by that was a table that looked ripe for weapons maintenance. Jodie glanced over at that side of the hangar bay, wondering how Wrex would get used to just sleeping up against the wall.

She then looked down at Garrus from where she was perched in the Mako's doorway, watching as he grabbed his omni-tool and scanned the tank.

"Well, it looks like this won't be a problem," Garrus began as he closed the omni-tool. "Its interfaces seem simple enough, and the tech is pretty easy to get the hang of." He beamed. "Calibrating this old thing will be easy."

"Don't get too excited," Jodie commented. "People might start making calibration jokes."

"Well, when that happens, I'll be ready for them," Garrus replied. He shrugged, looking up at Jodie. "I'm surprised you didn't go into the engine room with Tali and Shepard."

"Well, I don't know enough about all that technical stuff to keep up with Tali," Jodie replied. "If I went in there, I'd be completely lost." She shrugged. "Besides, Shepard and Tali apparently know each other, so I figured I'd let them catch up a little bit." She looked over at the door to the engine room. "They seem to be pretty close."

"Well, don't ask me about that," Garrus said.

"No, I'll ask Tali later," Jodie replied. She looked at the turian. "What I want to know is how _you _know so much about tanks."

Garrus shrugged. "Well, I don't know _that _much," he replied.

"It's more than I know," Jodie said.

The turian glanced to the side for a few seconds, and then he nodded his agreement. "True," he said. "Well, you know that turians are required to serve in the military at some point, right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. She pulled her knees up to her chest. "So were you their tank mechanic or something?"

Garrus barked out some kind of strange turian chuckle. "Well, I never handled a toolbox around tanks, so I would say no," he said. "No, I just have enough tech expertise. I was the one who normally calibrated the guns."

Jodie nodded, looking at Garrus intently. "And considering what we see here..." She looked down at the ground, sighing. "I still don't understand why Shepard thought to take me on. I mean..." She looked up at Garrus. "He said something about me coming onto the ground team, right? But what do I have to offer?"

"Well, you were in a firefight in a C-SEC office, and the quarian said that you _did _fight off a turian, so there may be something," said Garrus. He then indicated her. "With your height and everything..."

Jodie snorted, looking away. "You're not going to start calling me a runt too, are you?" she asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go _that _far," said Garrus as he glared at Wrex where he was cleaning his shotgun across the bay. "But if you can kick a turian's ass at your height, I'll bet there are more surprises where that came from."

Jodie chuckled bitterly. "You can say that," she replied while glancing off to the side. She turned her attention back to the turian, her hands clasping together. "But without knowing any real military weapons..." She shook her head. "Sneaking around can only get you so far, you know?"

"Well, you never know when we might have to infiltrate something," Garrus replied. "It might come in handy then, you know?"

"But until then..." She shook her head. "Also, that firefight in the C-SEC office was the first time I ever fired a weapon with mass accelerator slugs."

"Was it?" Garrus tilted his head to the side as he leaned against the tank. "I wasn't aware people still fired bullets down on Earth."

Jodie paused. "Some people still do," she replied. She looked up. "I mean, I got the hang of that mass accelerator gun pretty quickly, but..." She shook her head. "And I haven't touched an assault weapon either. So I just don't know. Being part of a ground team with a bunch of people with more experience than me..."

"Well, I'm just a cop, and _I'm _here, so," Garrus said, his voice trailing off as he casually swept his hand forward.

Jodie put her fingers to her mouth, and a rare giggle came out of her mouth. "That's true," she commented. She sighed, looking at the turian. "I guess we've all got stuff to learn here, right?"

"Seems like it," said Garrus. He then pushed off of the tank. "Well, at least here we won't have to worry about red tape. We can finally do some real good in this galaxy." He then looked to Jodie. "I'm going up the elevator. You coming?"

Jodie shook her head, holding her hand out. "I'm fine," she said. "Thank you, though."

Garrus nodded. "Suit yourself," he said. "I'll see you later."

Jodie nodded. "See you around, Off-Garrus..."

If the turian had been annoyed by this, he certainly did not show it as he walked off towards the elevator. This left Jodie sitting in the mouth of the tank's opening, her legs freely hanging on the side of the tank as she took a final look at the cargo bay around her. She wondered what kinds of adventures would be in store for her. No doubt, there was likely to be a lot of assault. Stealth did not seem to be Shepard's strong suit, and it was something that Jodie knew she would have to get used to. Even when she was facing off against militants in Somalia, she always kept to the shadows. Now that she would be on the front lines...

She shook her head. _I'll figure it out eventually_, she thought. _I guess Officer Vakarian's right about that. If Shepard brought a cop on board..._

She looked at Aiden before turning to look at the doors to the engine room. "You think Tali's done with Shepard in there?" she asked quietly.

Aiden remained silent for a brief period of time, which Jodie assumed was Aiden going off to check on Tali for Jodie. She waited for some time, before she heard Aiden faintly whoosh in what sounded like the affirmative. And sure enough, Jodie looked at the doors to the engine room right when Shepard walked out of there.

Jodie cracked a smile, and then nodded. "Well, I better go see how she's acclimating to this environment," she said. "Let's do this."

* * *

As soon as Jodie stepped into the engine room, she found more things to be amazed by.

As she entered, she found that there was some kind of metallic wall in front of her that was adorned with many varieties of light. The wall seemed to focus on a central point from which blue light seemed to emanate out. It was not quite like an entrance to the Infraworld, but Jodie found herself mesmerized by the sight regardless. She walked closer to it, her mouth hanging open for what felt like the eighth time that day as she got closer. She noticed that there was a row of computers right in front of a guard-rail that separated the engineers from the wall by what she surmised was at least three or four yards. She then came to this guard-rail, looking at the light of the drive core.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jodie jumped slightly, and then looked behind her to see Tali walk up to her.

Jodie sighed, her shoulders relaxing as Tali took a place next to her against the rail. "I... I guess so," said Jodie. "I'm sorry, I've never seen an engine quite like this."

"Neither have I," Tali said, her eyes lighting up as she excitedly began to bounce up and down. "This is light years ahead of anything I've ever seen on the Fleet, and..." She paused, looking at the control panel. "And I've been given permission to poke around in it."

Jodie's eyebrow rose, her posture shifting as she turned to Tali. "Really?" she asked, her tone indicating some surprise. "Wouldn't the chief engineer disapprove of that?"

"Nah, it's fine." Jodie let out an audible gasp of shock as she turned towards the sound of the voice in question. When she did, she saw a middle-aged man manning one of the terminals. "I guess we'll see what happens, but if what I've seen her say is any indication, she'll fit right in." The man shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet." He turned to Jodie, walking towards her and extending his hand at the same time. "I am Chief Engineer Adams."

"Jodie Holmes," Jodie replied as she tentatively grasped Adams' hand and shook it. "Sorry, I'm just, well," she paused, a nervous chuckle escaping her throat "I haven't gotten used to this yet." She gestured around her. "I mean... well, everything."

"Well, I get the feeling you'll fit pretty well, then," Adams replied. "I haven't seen the rest of the ground team yet, but from what little I've heard it seems like a wild group."

"It certainly seems that way," said Jodie. She then turned her attention back to Tali. "But you got to look around in the ship's engine?"

"Yes," said Tali. "I'm amazed at everything there. I... I think I could learn so much from this ship." Jodie noticed that Tali's voice seemed a little higher pitched and a little faster than normal. "I mean, with the various drive core subroutines and the fueling equations and regulating the heat so it doesn't overheat and... And that heat signature shielding." She looked at the engine, her eyes wide. "That especially seems interesting. I still don't fully understand how it works, but what I do understand is... well." She paused, looking at Jodie. "It's amazing, Jodie."

Jodie smiled, even if her brows had shifted in her confusion. "Well... I don't really know how any of that works, but... I'm glad you feel happy here," she said. "Must be great to be into something like that."

Tali looked at Jodie, and then she immediately bowed her head. "Oh, Keelah," Tali said, her voice sounding a little exasperated. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you... I'm sorry. I'm just so excited right now, and I could talk about engineering subroutines for days and talk about how much eezo it could take to power this thing, but Keelah, I didn't-!"

Jodie chuckled at Tali's flusteredness. "No no, it's fine," Jodie replied. "It's good to have something to be passionate about."

"You really think so?" asked Tali.

"Yeah," said Jodie as she sighed, leaning against the rail. "I wish I had something like that when I was growing up." She took a moment to gaze up at the engine, a regretful expression on her face. "I didn't get so lucky. I had..." She looked up, remembering her early years, and everything from her adopted father through her attempts to fit in with others to eventually getting recruited to the CIA. "I had a tough time. Couldn't really devote any time to anything, you know?"

"I... I guess so," said Tali. She nodded. "I'm sorry if I-"

"No no, it's all right," Jodie said, giving Tali a sad but reassuring smile. "It's all in the past now, and I've more or less come to terms with it." Jodie shrugged. "It's all we can ever do, no?"

"I guess so," said Tali. She looked at Jodie. "So you really didn't mind my rambling?"

"Not at all," said Jodie. "In fact, I'd be interested to hear a little more about that at some point."

"Oh?" said Tali.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Knowing how you were just now, I'll bet it'll be a fun conversation." She crossed her arms.

Tali looked at Jodie as she crossed her arms. "You know, that sounds quite a bit of what Shepard said to me when we first met," she said.

"Really?" Jodie asked. She then froze for a split second, her question coming back to her. "Oh, and that reminds me, too! I wanted to ask about-"

And it was at this precise moment that Jodie's stomach growled quite loudly. Jodie's eyes widened in surprise as she heard this, and she looked down at herself for a few seconds before covering her stomach with her hands and giving her an embarrassed smile. Upon seeing that Tali's expression hadn't changed at all, though, Jodie found some of her embarrassment wear off, but it was still rather present.

"Sorry," she said. "I guess I haven't had anything to eat in a while."

Tali nodded. "Hm. Now that you mention it, I haven't either," she said. She shrugged. "Want to go to the mess hall?"

"Sure," said Jodie immediately. "I could use something to eat."

"Come on, then," said Tali. "I can answer the question I think you wanted to ask there."

Tali nodded to Engineer Adams really quickly before she and Jodie walked towards the door on the other side of the room. Jodie found herself looking over to Aiden, hearing him click a little bit in wonder. Jodie shook her head, cracking a smile and simply following Tali out the door as they both rounded off to where the elevator stood.

* * *

It was about five minutes later when Jodie and Tali had just sat down at the table that the intercom came to life.

"_This is Commander Shepard speaking._" Jodie looked up at where the voice was coming from, taking a breath as she placed her cheeseburger down on the plate. "_We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit._"

Shepard paused, giving Jodie enough time to look to Tali. The quarian had leaned over the table so her head was propped up on her left arm. Jodie could not quite read her expression, but judging from the way Tali's right hand moved she imagined she was looking up in admiration. Faintly, Jodie thought she could hear a sigh, but it was too soft for her to catch adequately.

Before she could ponder on this, the Commander continued. "_I won't lie to you, crew,_" he continued. "_This mission isn't going to be easy. For too long, humanity has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for humanity to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy! Time to show them what humans are made_ _of!_

"_Our enemy knows we're coming,_" Shepard continued. "_When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them, too._" He then paused, and Jodie noticed when he next began to speak that his voice sounded ever so slightly further from whatever he was speaking into. "_Humanity needs to do this. Not just for its own sake, but for the sake of every other species out there. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you..._" Here, Shepard paused ever so briefly, though Jodie sensed this was for dramatic effect. "_We will stop him!_"

The intercom then cut out, leaving Jodie to stand there looking at the intercom. She found herself distracted by what she had heard, but not because of anything she violently disagreed with.

On the contrary, the speech left Jodie with a small sense of awe at how Shepard carried himself when making a speech. She found herself rather invigorated by the authoritative tone Shepard used in his speech, and for the first time since she had boarded, she felt truly confident that Shepard did perhaps trust that she did have something to add to the crew. And that feeling gave her a sense of purpose.

Of course, she would reserve her judgment until she saw him in a field of battle. But until then, Jodie had the sense of a strong leader, and already her expectations were-

"You seem lost in thought there."

Jodie jumped slightly, knocked violently out of her reverie by Tali. Tali looked at Jodie with a tilted head, and even as Jodie chuckled rather nervously the tilt remained.

"S-Sorry," Jodie said, he cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment. "I just got carried away, is all." She then glanced at the intercom. "Shepard." She paused uncertainly, rubbing her fingers in a circle on the table. "I don't know, something about him just..."

"That's true," said Tali as she laid one of her hands on the table. "Shepard has always been rather great. He can handle himself very well on the battlefield, as well." She turned to Jodie. "At least, that is what I've heard." She shakes her head. "But that doesn't matter."

"Yeah, I guess not," said Jodie. "Anyway, to get back on topic..." She shifted in her seat, leaning close to Tali. "When you ran into Shepard at the C-SEC office, you talked as if you'd known him."

"I did," Tali said, and Jodie could tell immediately from the way her voice lilted that she was quite happy to talk about it. "It is... a slightly long story." She chuckled. "It's almost funny now, considering what has happened recently."

"Why?" Jodie asked.

"Well, Shepard grew up on a colony," she replied. "Mindoir, it's called."

"Mindoir?" Jodie leaned forward, the name sounding somewhat familiar to her. "You don't mean that one colony that was attached by batarians before the... the Blitz, do you?"

"I do..." She trailed off, but then turned to Jodie. "But that was after I met him."

"Still, though," Jodie said, looking down at the ground with a saddened expression. "Was he all right after that?"

"The experience was... _hard _on him," Tali conceded. "But by then I knew him rather well, so I was able to check on him, see how he was doing." She nodded. "That was hard, but he managed. And I think he is fine now."

"I hope so," Jodie trailed off. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I know that's off-topic, and it's his thing to tell. I shouldn't have gotten into that." She shifted her posture slightly. "How did you get to meet him?"

Tali nodded, seemingly appreciating that Jodie wanted to change the subject. "The ship I was on at the time suffered a minor systems failure that forced us to land," Tali replied.

Jodie tilted her head to the side. "Wait, really?" she asked. "Don't those ships normally stay pretty close together?"

"We do," said Tali. "Only problem was, someone made a very small mathematical error on this particular relay jump, and it caused us to be separated from the Fleet. Mindoir happened to be close by." She paused, looking up. "We only stayed about two days, but those two days were when I met him..." She sighed. "He was a very nice guy, actually, and very helpful in making sure we were welcomed. He and I talked a little bit, and before long..." She looked at her wrist, Jodie getting the sense from where it was on her hand that she was thinking of her omni-tool. "Well, I had never had a non-quarian friend before, so..."

"So you got curious," said Jodie. "And I guess you and he talked after that?"

"Yes," Tali said. "And we have been friends ever since."

Jodie nodded. "Well, it seems you'll get to see him in person more often now," she said.

"Seems like it," said Tali. Jodie noticed that Tali's eyes seemed to shine brighter than they ever have. "It's been years since I last saw him in person, but now that he's here..." She looked up. "It will make my Pilgrimage much more interesting."

"Well, I guess we'll see," said Jodie with a smile. "Any specific stories from that?"

"Oh!" Tali said. She shrugged. "Well, there was something that happened on the second day that I remember really well. It all started with me practicing how to write a hacking subroutine..."

* * *

Jodie and Tali had talked a little bit about Shepard, but for them their meal had finished rather quickly for both of their tastes. Unfortunately, that meant Tali had to go back to engineering which then left Jodie to her own devices as to what to do. She decided to take that time to write up a quick message to Kalo. It was nothing too fancy, but it did the job it needed to.

After sending the message, she sighed and leaned against the wall where she sat. She was by the sleeper pods, and her guitar case leaned securely against the wall between two of the sleeper pods. She yawned, brushing some of her long brown hair out of her face as she thought on the day's events. It had been a very hard day, and its effects were beginning to make itself apparent in the way her muscles ached and her head started to sag slightly on her neck. Come to think of it, the Eden Prime news had come pretty late in her day for her too, and since then she had not a moment to sit down and think about it.

The pod door opened, and then she found that it was a rather small space. Jodie crawled in, thankful that the door was see-through and that she did not have to shimmy up to a lock in this case to see what was happening. And when she did climb in, she also found that it was somehow not very constricting. She laid back in it, allowing the glass to close over her as she crossed her arms over her chest.

As she heard a faint hiss from close by, Jodie heard several clicks. She then watched as a certain part of the glass fogged from within, and then she saw a series of lines get quickly scrawled on the fogged up glass.

Jodie squinted, and then sighed as Aiden finished writing "TELL ABOUT ME?" on the glass.

"Aiden, we're on a _warship_," she said, bringing her fist up to the glass to wipe the message away. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be used by any governmental body again. If there's any chance that they're listening in on us, I don't want to take the chance."

Aiden clicked again at this, and Jodie found herself leaning back in the pod as he continued on.

"Yes, I know they'll find out eventually," Jodie replied as she pulled her hand away from the glass. "And I want to tell them individually. But I don't trust the fact that this is a military setting, and I certainly don't want whoever Shepard's superior is to find out." She sighed. "Look, we're only staying here until Saren is killed. After that, we can play it from there, but I'm not planning on bringing the Alliance as a whole into my life, especially if they're anything like the CIA." She shook her head. "You _know _what they did with us, Aiden. You know what happened there, and we didn't have a choice in the matter."

She shook her head. "This time, we do have a choice," she finished. "And I'm not letting myself get used for something like that ever again." She shook her head. "Look, you can go and make sure there is a place where I can talk to people without being overheard by anyone if you want. But I'm not talking until I know for sure that I'm not being spied on."

And with this, Jodie tried to turn to her side for effect. However, the area around her was not quite large enough to allow for that, and so she found herself frustrated.

However, Aiden remained silent for some time, and Jodie noticed that he was not making an other attempts to talk to her. She assumed this meant that Aiden decided to drop the subject, and for that Jodie was grateful.

And so, she closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax with deep breaths. Soon enough, she fell asleep, her thoughts melting away as she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5

_A/N: Okay, and we're back with more of this fic! Sorry for the long delay, guys: real life caught up with me and made it hard to do stuff. But I'm here, and we're going on!_

_Today in this story we get to see more of Jodie talking with the characters, but worry not! She'll see some action soon!_

_Speaking of seeing some action, soon... I normally don't like to do this, but anonymous reviews call for bitching in the story itself, y'know? So between the previous chapter and this one, some disingenuous anonymous reviewer by the name of "the warrior" came in and bitched about "oh, people are idiots if you think you're going to finish this story, I'm going to read an author that actually intends to finish it". First of all, as I said, real life caught up with me. I don't have all the hours of a day to write, you know. And especially considering that I'm reaching the end of schooling here at Cleveland, I had a bunch of stuff I need to take care of. Degree recital, paper for one of my classes, project for another one, writing a song before May hit... really, I had so much pile up on me it kind of became hard to find time to sit down to write this. Second of all: by that argument, trollfic authors have suddenly become gods of writing. Third of all: if you're going to criticize a story, can you actually criticize something that matters? Like, you know, typos? Characterization problems? Ludicrousness of the plot? 'Cause the rate of upload isn't so much an issue as it is a factor that can contribute, and to attack someone based on their upload schedule without seeing how it affects their prose is completely assinine and stupid._

_In short, "the warrior"; if you're going to be a dick to fanfiction authors, you might as well have a valid point to convey. You don't. Therefore, you lose. Good day, sir._

_Anyway, sorry about that rant. Don't you guys miss the days where authors used to be able to disable anonymous reviews for their stories? Lord knows I do..._

_Anyway, that's all on that. So sit back, and have some fun, 'cause there's gonna be a lot of it, lemme tell ya!_

* * *

Chapter Five

Jodie woke up the next day feeling refreshed, if also having a few sore muscles. The sleeper pod had ensured she would have a good rest, and this was the most rested she had felt in years. Her mood at the time was quite good. She did not even care that she had lightly bumped her head against the glass out of force of habit: she was feeling pretty good about it, and felt like she could go out and start the day.

She looked at her omni-tool arm, slowly raising it and opening the holographic interface. She looked at it, and then at the panel that she used to enter the pod. Before she could click anything, though, she saw the panel light up quickly. Immediately after this, the pod opened with a loud hiss, Jodie blinking in surprise as the glass rose above her.

Jodie sighed, even as the ends of her lips twitched upwards. "Thanks, Aiden," she said quietly. "Just... let me do that in the future, okay?"

Aiden gurgled a little bit in defeat, and Jodie nodded. She then walked straight for the mess hall to find that there was an older woman sitting at the table with a meal laid out in front of her. Jodie guessed from her simple grey uniform and the orange patch with SR-1 printed on it that she was not on the ground team. She surmised that she probably had a support position on the ship, though.

Right as Jodie walked into the mess hall, the older woman caught sight of Jodie, and as Jodie went over to get food, she chuckled. "Well, I guess I've finally met all the people Shepard brought on, then."

Jodie chuckled good-naturedly as she grabbed a couple of energy bars and some water. "Well, I haven't given you my name," Jodie replied. She walked over to the table, setting the energy bars across from the older woman. "Jodie Holmes. And you are?"

"Dr. Chakwas," she replied, standing up and offering her hand. "I'm the chief medical officer aboard the _Normandy_."

Jodie took Dr. Chakwas' hand and shook it. "Good to meet you, I guess," said Jodie. "So you take care of the injuries on board."

"Among other things," the doctor replied as Jodie sat down. "If you get injured on the battlefield, I'm the one who gets to fix you all up." She looked over at Jodie intently. "I guess Shepard neglected to tell you that you were due for a physical there as well."

Jodie jolted slightly. "Wait..." She leaned forward. "So I was supposed to see you yesterday, and nobody mentioned it to me?"

"I suppose not," said Dr. Chakwas.

Jodie sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry," she replied. "I probably also should've remembered that every military in the galaxy would check that. Shit..."

"It is all right," said Dr. Chakwas. "Though I would worry much more if Shepard wanted to take you on the ground team in the very immediate future."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jodie said, nervously drumming her fingers on the table. "Well... I don't really have much else to do, so we could probably get it done after breakfast."

Dr. Chakwas nodded. "That would be optimal," said Dr. Chakwas. "And then I can get that information to Shepard. Besides..." Dr. Chakwas gave Jodie a glance, before indicating her stature. "I have a feeling this may be a short visit."

"Yeah." Jodie nodded matter-of-factly. "Yeah, I had a feeling you might say that." She shook her head, though her still up-turned lips keyed Dr. Chakwas in to her real feelings on the subject. "But no, I'm sure it's for everyone's benefit." She grabbed one of the energy bars and unwrapped it. "It's not invasive or anything, is it?"

"Oh, no," Dr. Chakwas replied. "No, there is nothing like that."

Jodie sighed. "Good," she said. She bit down on one of the energy bars, and then nodded at the doctor as she chewed and swallowed. "Good."

The doctor didn't say anything more as Jodie ate her breakfast.

* * *

"Huh, that actually was pretty quick."

Jodie rubbed her head as she stepped out of the scanning device. Dr. Chakwas was already waiting with a datapad, looking over the results. Jodie shifted, glancing at the machine that had just scanned her body before turning her attention back to Dr. Chakwas. The doctor chuckled, setting the data pad aside and looking at Jodie.

"Well, what else do you expect?" the doctor asked. "We have state-of-the-art medical technology at our fingers here on the ship."

"I'll say," Jodie said, chuckling. She then turned her attention to Dr. Chakwas. "So how does it look?"

"It seems to check out rather fine," she said. "You're in good physical health, you are certainly keeping rather fit..." She gestured at Jodie. "The only thing I'm concerned about is if the Commander can find any armor in your size."

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Jodie replied. "I mean, I can't be the only one that's this short in this galaxy, right?"

Dr. Chakwas. "You do bring up a compelling point," she replied. "I think we'll find something. Until then, though, I'm sure Shepard will keep you on the Normandy."

Jodie nodded. "I can understand why," she said. "Even if I'm not exactly on the front lines, I still need protection." She sighed, stepping off of the device. "In the meantime, though, I guess I just wait a little and try to pass the time?"

"Something like that," said Dr. Chakwas. "There isn't much to do, but I think that Chief Williams could help you get acclimated to mass accelerator rounds. From what she's told me, you only fired your first mass accelerator gun at that C-SEC office."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jodie admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "I think I'll go ahead and see her about that."

"Very well, then," said Dr. Chakwas. "I'll update Shepard about your medical status as soon as possible."

"Great," said Jodie. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

"I guess we shall," said Dr. Chakwas as Jodie walked towards the door.

* * *

Jodie knew she should probably go over to Ashley first, but something left her wanting to look outside at the stars for a bit. She had never seen any starscape away from Earth before, and she figured she was in the middle of the best time possible to do that. Curiosity did get the better of her in situations like this, and she figured that Aiden had probably hogged the view to himself for long enough.

Of course, the hunt for a window lasted longer than she would have liked. She knew there were no windows in the hangar bay, and there seemed to be no windows in the crew deck either. She thus milled about for a little bit, before finally deciding to head on over to the cockpit to see if there was a window to be seen.

And indeed, the only window on the whole ship was in the cockpit. Jodie wondered why that was, but she was not about to question it seeing as how she knew so little. Nevertheless, she approached slowly, glancing at the chair with some amount of nervousness.

But even that washed quickly away as Jodie saw what was in front of her. Just about everywhere she could look, there were a lot of twinkling stars everywhere across the vast inky blackness of space. Somehow, out here in the middle of the cosmos, the twinkling was amplified, and it was quite the sight to behold. Jodie could not remember the last time she had ever seen a starry sky that beautiful. Maybe when she had been on the run she might've seen a sky like that, but other than there, she could not think of any place in her immediate memory.

She briefly wondered if Aiden had already seen this while Jodie was asleep. Her guess was that he had. After all, she hadn't heard any whisperings about strange goings-on around her yet, so she took this as a sign that Aiden had finally found other things with which to occupy his attention whenever he was bored. She hoped that was the case, otherwise-

"Enjoying the view?"

Jodie yelped in surprise, turning around to find that she had advanced into the pilot's line of sight. She looked over to see a scrawny-looking man with a cap and the most well-trimmed brown beard Jodie had ever seen in her life.

"Oh my God..." Jodie said. She took a few deep breaths to calm her heart, and she topped that off with a sigh of relief. "Oh my God..."

"Now now, don't get a heart attack on me," the pilot replied. "I don't think anybody's medication here treats that."

Despite the sudden rush of fear, Jodie found herself chuckling in amusement. "Sorry, I must've stepped forward further than I thought I did," she said.

"No no, it's fine," the pilot reassured with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You're not the only one to pop into the cockpit."

Jodie let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I don't think we've met," said Jodie. "I'm Jodie Holmes. And you are...?"

"Well, I'm Jeff, but everyone here calls me Joker," the pilot replied, leaning back in his seat and looking right at Jodie. He then flashed a playful smile at Jodie. "And right now, I still don't think I've figured out why. I think it's probably the chair."

Jodie did not find that particular joke to be terribly funny, but nevertheless she snorted in amusement. "Ah, so we've got the wisecracking pilot, hm?" she asked.

"Maybe," said Joker as he leaned back. He then looked to Jodie. "You must be one of the newbies that came in yesterday. Sorry I couldn't give you a proper welcome on my baby."

Jodie shrugged. "I was... distracted," she replied. "Even if you had, I'm not sure I would've noticed."

"Maybe," said Joker. She then gave Jodie an intent look. "I don't know, it's a pretty odd group."

"What makes you say that?" Jodie asked. "I mean... it's not because most of us are aliens, is it?"

"No, actually," said Joker as he looked ahead. "I was thinking more because of what I've noticed with just what I've seen. We've got an angry krogan, we've got a turian cop with a stick up his ass, we've got some childhood quarian friend, and then we have the mysterious Good Samaritan." With this last item, he gestured at Jodie. "Couple that with the people already on board and... well, the only way you could get any weirder is if Shepard decided to recruit a drell assassin or something along those lines."

"Ah." Jodie turned to the stars, before leaning back against the bulkhead. "And then there's the fact that we're fighting a turian Spectre, right?"

"Well, that part isn't that strange," Joker replied. "But I guess it could be less... hm..." He paused, scratching at his beard in thought.

"Surreal?" Jodie supplied.

Joker nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it," he said. "I don't see things getting any more strange with what we've got."

Jodie had to suppress a snort of laughter, though Aiden was trilling in merriment off to the side. "Don't say that _just _yet," Jodie said. "You can never tell with some people."

"Maybe not, but I'm sure it won't get too crazy," said Joker. He then looked forward. "Well, if you wanted to see the stars, there was your chance. We'll be jumping into regular old FTL travel in a bit, and seeing blue all the time does nothing for that."

Jodie sighed sadly, but she tilted her head forward nevertheless. "Of course," she said. "Sorry, I should probably get back down or something."

"Well, I don't mind the company that much," said Joker. "But, since you're new here, you've probably got a few important things to talk about with other people around here."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "That sounds about right. Mostly, I need to talk to Ashley."

"Ah, her," said Joker. "Have fun with that. I hear she can be a bit of a hardass."

"I've heard that's how most military types are," Jodie replied. She nodded, and then looked at Joker. "It was nice to meet you, though."

"Yeah, same here," said Joker. "Hopefully I'll be seeing you around."

Jodie offered Joker a smile. "Maybe," she said. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Seeya," Joker replied with a small wave of his hand.

With this, Jodie walked away from the cockpit, feeling rather good at having met someone else aboard the ship. As she walked, though, she heard Aiden chirp above her. This chirp was rather amused, and it was followed by a long raspberry sound.

Jodie nodded. _Well, Aiden, you can't say he's wrong, _she thought. _He did say it was an odd group, after all.__  
_

Aiden simply chirped in reply, then trilled a little bit as Jodie walked to the doorway to the crew deck.

_Yeah,_ Jodie thought. _I guess we'll see._

Aiden said nothing further as she passed through the door. Jodie nodded, and then made her way to the hangar bay.

* * *

Jodie looked at the assault rifle with some amount of uncertainty. She then glanced up at Ashley on the table next to her, before looking back at the weapon in her hands.

"So this is what I'm shooting?" she asked.

"Yes," said Ashley as she nodded at Jodie. "For all intents and purposes, that's probably the most versatile weapon you'll have. It's not too heavy, it offers some protection at all ranges, its' got rapid fire... Really, I'm not sure what's to fear about it."

"I guess," Jodie replied hesitantly. She eyed the weapon. "I still don't think I'll ever get used to fighting out in the open like that."

"You'll get used to it," said Ash. "And hey, look at it this way: you're not going through the N7 training program."

Jodie nodded, having read up on the N7 program before. "I've heard... _extreme _things," she said. She paused for a second, looking at Ashley as she conemplated this. "I guess that's true."

"Yeah," said Ashley. "Now, I'm sure you know the basics of firing a gun, right?"

"Account for recoil, always check the weapon, constantly maintain it..." Jodie looked at the weapon. "And keep track of your ammo?"

"Well, keep track of how hot your weapon is," Ashley corrected. She gave Jodie a pointed look. "I haven't heard of very many places on Earth that have used live ammo ever since we've gone to the stars."

Jodie sighed. "It's a very long story," she replied. "I guess the people I worked with just liked antiquated firearms."

Ashley glanced at Jodie, before shaking her head. "Fair enough," Ashley replied, though her expression remained somewhat skeptical. She then looked at the weapon. "I guess you still need a primer on how to check heat?"

Jodie nodded. "That would be great, yeah," she said. "I don't think it would be a good battle strategy to just fire away until it overheats..."

"It would not," said Ashley, before she then unfolded the assault rifle.

As it unfolded, Jodie noticed that a holographic interface about the size of her index finger was displayed just above the scope. It looked like some kind of empty bar waiting to be filled, and it vaguely reminded her of a health bar she would have seen in one of the video games that she used to play before she went on the run.

"Oh," said Jodie, mentally smacking herself in the head. "How did I not notice that before?"

"It's easy to lose track of something like this in the heat of battle," Ashley replied. "I guess you already know what that does?"

"I have an _idea_, at the very least," Jodie said, looking at the interface. "It also beeps when overheated, so I'll assume that this bar will be full when that happens."

"That just about says it all," said Ashley. She then paused, touching a certain part of the weapon. "Though, if that's busted, you can always try to feel this part of the weapon. If you can feel a small amount of heat there after leaving your hand there for a few seconds, it needs to cool down."

"Some heat?" Jodie asked. "Wouldn't it be hotter than that if it were overheated?"

"Well, yes, assuming you're touching this thing without wearing the gauntlets that standard-issue Alliance armor comes with," Ashley said.

Jodie blinked, and then nodded as the realization hit her. "Ah, right," she said. "Sorry, I forgot that there's body armor too." She shook her head. "But no, I think I get it." She looked at the rifle, before putting it down on the table. "And of course there's the maintenance part."

"Yes there is," Ashley said in agreement, laying her own rifle down. "Now, on the Normandy, you won't have to worry too much about that since I'll go ahead and maintain most of the arms, but it's a good idea to know how to do it anyway."

"You never know when it'll come in handy," Jodie agreed as she laid the rifle down. "It seems a little more complicated since the weapon folds open when you want to use it."

"Well, there is that, but that's not the hard part," Ashley replied. "No, the hard part is getting around the mass accelerator itself. Make the slightest error cleaning that, and you can risk the firearm blowing up in your face. I remember that we spent nearly two months on nothing _but_ weapons maintenance in boot camp before we were allowed to fire one on the field."

"Well, if they're doing that, it's for a good reason," Jodie commented. "Can it still blow up?"

"It can," Ashley replied. "But if you know what you're doing, that'll only happen if your enemy has an omni-tool that's equipped with the right load-out." She paused. "We'll be facing a lot of geth out there, so they'll probably have it. That said, it shouldn't be _too _catastrophic."

"All right," said Jodie, looking at the rifle. She then looked at Ashley. "So where do we start?"

"Well, we start with expanding the rifle," said Ashley. "And the first thing to do there is to make sure that the rifle doesn't discharge while it's being cleaned and maintained..."

* * *

Jodie found herself idly sitting off to the side of the mess hall. She was fiddling around with her omni-tool, looking up every so often as some of the crew members passed her by. Aiden was quiet as usual, and Jodie was allowed a moment of peace to process the whole situation. The fact that she was on a military ship, the fact that she was even in the future in the first place, the fact that she had likely found a group of people that made her homeless friends seem normal in comparison...

Her homeless friends...

A wave of curiosity suddenly overcame Jodie. Her fingers turned to the extranet search engine, and she immediately looked at it, hesitating slightly while looking at the search bar. She brought her fingers up to the holographic keyboard after a bit.

_Why haven't I done this before?_ Jodie thought to herself.

She shook her head, sighing nervously. _Well, here goes nothing_...

She then typed "Ryan Clayton" into the search bar, and hit the enter key before she could have a chance to doubt herself.

The search results came up as soon as she hit the enter key. She frowned immediately, seeing a search result come up rather quickly, and briefly she felt a strange surge of mixed emotion as she saw his face appear on the right side of the holographic interface. However, she sighed in relief when this Ryan Clayton turned out to be an actor rather than a CIA agent. He still looked quite the same as he remembered, but he was somehow... _happier_, it seemed. Jodie was glad for this, at least, though she knew that he would never see him because of his deceased status. She pondered if she should visit his grave in the first place: after all, not all of Jodie's history with Ryan had been pleasant.

But she decided to think about it later, for there were other people she needed to think about at that time. As such, she touched the search bar and quickly entered "Cole Freeman". She blinked upon seeing that there were very few search results, and that what search results were there were very sparse. It looked like there was no results for him. Jodie was rather crestfallen at this; she had hoped that Cole would have something left in this universe. Jodie sighed, wondering if he had lived an unassuming life or if he had even existed. Jodie hoped it was a case of the latter: Jodie could scarcely imagine a world where Cole was not brightening the day of anyone he worked with. She had come to him a freak, and all he ever called her was the "little princess".

Jodie sighed, bowing her head in respect before touching the search bar again. When she did, she paused, wondering if she really wanted to know what had become of Nathan. This one in particular was hard to think of: Nathan was a very nice man, but she wondered if he had gone mad the way he had while Jodie was around. She closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them while looking at the open search bar.

She sighed. _Well, I guess it's inevitable_, she thought. _I hope he didn't go mad..._

With this, Jodie typed "Nathan Dawkins" into the search engine, and this time she did hesitate for a second before hitting enter.

She was immediately surprised by Nathan's picture on the search engine. This was exactly like the Nathan that Jodie knew, except that his wrinkles seemed much less prominent in some of the older pictures. Jodie breathed in, smiling softly as she read on. Apparently, Nathan was still a scientist in this universe, but he had been moved quite a bit forward in the timeline. As she read on, she was surprised to read that his specialty had apparently been space travel: he was one of the lead scientists that started applying the theory behind mass effect travel within Alliance ships. She also noted that he had only died rather recently, this time of old age than anything having to do with a gun. She found herself smiling upon reading up on him, and also wondering why she had never come across his name until then in all her searches related to mass effect travel.

_He managed to be happy..._ Jodie's smile fell as soon as she thought of this, thinking back to Nathan's eventual descent into madness. _He managed to be happy without me..._

Jodie briefly thought back to the night that the spirits of Nathan's wife and daughter had directed her to Nathan's office. Doubt assailed Jodie immediately as she thought of how differently that night could have gone. In hindsight, she knew that Nathan would have needed the comfort; even in another universe, the image of Nathan's tear-streaked face was something that broke Jodie's heart. At the same time, though, Jodie could never have shaken off the feeling that she had been partly responsible for Nathan's plight when she had allowed Aiden to channel Nathan's wife and daughter through her. She had always wondered what would happen if she had not gone to that office that night. Perhaps then he would not have become so obsessed with getting them back from death.

Jodie closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall as she shook her head. _Well, I guess that confirms it,_ she thought. She found herself rubbing her head, the depression settling in as she opened her eyes and gave a rather forlorn look at the area around her. Her eyes watered at this though, and she once again thought about how great it would be if she hadn't-

"Hey Jodie."

Jodie looked up to see Kaidan looking directly at her. Jodie blinked, her eyes drying just a little bit as she closed her omni-tool.

"Oh, hi Kaidan," Jodie replied. "I didn't expect to see you here right now..."

But Kaidan took another look at Jodie before he took a seat next to Jodie. "Is everything all right?" he asked. "You just... you don't look too happy there."

Jodie sighed, wiping one of her eyes with her free hand. "I'm... I'm fine," she replied.

"You didn't seem so fine just now," Kaidan said.

Jodie sighed, looking at her omni-tool hand. "It's a long story," said Jodie. "You ever search for your relatives on the internet?"

Kaidan chuckled. "With all due respect, Jodie, why would you look for them?"

Jodie shrugged. "Well, if you haven't seen them for a while, maybe," she said. "I just haven't really seen anyone I can call my family in years."

"Oh." Kaidan paused, looking at Jodie before turning away. "It wasn't great news, I take it?"

"No," Jodie replied. Her shoulders slumped a little bit, but she maintained a neutral expression. "I guess I should've expected something like that. It was..." She glanced to the side, thinking of Nathan. "They were good people, but they were caught in a bad situation. It would take too long to talk about it here, but... let's just say it wasn't a good time for anyone to be around me."

"I see..." Kaidan said. "Sorry to have brought it up."

"No no, don't apologize for that," Jodie replied. "You're not the one who was looking them up on the extranet, after all."

Kaidan nodded, though Jodie noticed that he was suppressing the urge to chuckle. "I suppose that's true," he said. "I guess you want to keep that to yourself?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I'd like that."

"Then we'll leave it at that," Kaidan replied. "Hell, I'm pretty sure that almost all of us have got our skeletons in the closet on this ship."

"You really think so?" Jodie asked.

"Yeah," said Kaidan, glancing around the room. He then looked over at Jodie, offering a small smile. "So are you settling in all right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Yeah. Ashley just showed me a way around an assault rifle."

"She did, huh?" Kaidan asked. "I guess you'll learn your way around one of those things soon, no?"

"It seems that way," said Jodie. She pulled her legs in closer. "It actually wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be, I have to say."

"You get used to those kinds of weapons quickly, I find," Kaidan replied. He sighed. "What makes it harder for me are my biotics."

Jodie turned to Kaidan, her eyebrow raised. "You're a biotic?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Kaidan. "I was one of those people outfited with the L2 implants."

Aiden let out a confused click, a sentiment which was mirrored by Jodie's facial expression a second later. "Implants?" she asked.

Kaidan turned to Jodie. "For my biotics," he said.

"Oh." Jodie nodded, giving an awkward chuckle as she shifted her posture. "Oh. Okay. Sorry, for a second there..."

"You didn't know biotics needed those, did you?" Kaidan asked.

"Um..." Jodie sighed in defeat. "I didn't."

"Well, now you know," Kaidan offered. "Human implants have been getting perfected over the past few years. I was unlucky to get the L2 implant." He tapped his temple. "It's powerful, but I get some nasty migraines from it."

Jodie nodded, even as she heard Aiden give a few nervous clicks. "I see..." she said. "I hope they don't flare up in battle."

"I've had it happen in a few situations," he replied. "But head-on battle rarely allows you to sit back and relax, you know?"

"Yeah, that's true," Jodie commented, thinking back to the few direct combat situations she had ever been in. "Well, I guess you can always hope it doesn't flare up?"

"That's all I can do," said Kaidan. He then nodded. "Well, apart from trusting that my friends have my back."

Jodie chuckled at this. "I guess that's also true," she said. "You've got a good point there." She paused, before turning to face Kaidan. "I don't think you've got much to worry about there, though. This seems like a good group we've got."

"I don't doubt it," said Kaidan nervously. He then shrugged, and looked right at Jodie. "But that's enough about me." He then crossed his arms in front of him. "You said you were good at sneaking around. I guess that means you used to do recon for whoever it was you worked for."

"Oh. Oh yeah," said Jodie. She smiled a little as she looked at Kaidan. "It's tense, you know, trying to sneak around without getting caught. It's one of those things you get used to, though." Jodie sighed, looking down. "I don't really get any thrill from it, though. Knowing what the enemy can do to you if you get caught..." She shivered. "It tends to put a damper on that."

"I'll say," said Kaidan. "I can't imagine what would happen to you if you were caught sneaking around a batarian slave compound. I hear those places are hell to be in."

"So have I," Jodie said. "I don't intend on ever getting in there. The implants they give you just sound terrifying to me. I can't imagine what it would be like to be fitted with something that could shock you on a whim."

"I'll bet," he said. "But, I suppose there are worse things than being held as a slave."

Jodie shrugged. "I guess there are," she said, as Aiden gave a brief click of agreement. "Hm... You hungry?"

Kaidan chuckled, a smile coming to his face upon hearing that. "Yeah," he said. "Biotics usually are."

"Bottomless stomach, huh?" Jodie asked as she stood up.

"Well, we need the extra energy," Kaidan replied as he held his hand out. Jodie took the hand and helped Kaidan to his feet. "Biotics can't eat it all quickly enough."

"Oh." Jodie said. "Well, I'm feeling the need to eat something as well, so..."

"All right," said Kaidan as he gestured to the tables. "Let's do it, then."

"Uh... sure." Jodie offered a shrug.

The two of them then went over to the food dispensaries to get something to eat. As Jodie picked up some utensils, she heard Aiden whoosh in an unamused manner. Jodie paused, looking at where she assumed Aiden was as he let off a series of rather pointed clicks.

She let out a sigh, glaring up at Aiden. _Relax, Aiden_, she thought. _You can't just freak out because I'm having a friendly conversation. __He's just a friend, and I don't see it getting to _that _level at any point._

She shook her head, and then turned to grab a granola bar from the dispensary.

* * *

A few hours later, Jodie found herself looking at the Mako from the elevator. She watched as Ashley and Tali gave each other a glance, Ashley fixing her helmet on her head while in a conversation with Tali. Garrus stood to the side, giving the Mako one last inspection with his omni-tool. Jodie looked at it, a little nervous to see what a descending Mako would look like.

She heard the elevator open behind her, and when she did, she saw Shepard walk over. As he passed Jodie, he gave her a nod, and then paused before turning to her.

"Ah, Jodie," said Shepard. "I've been looking for you. I need to bring you up to speed on the squad."

Jodie nodded, looking at the Commander. "Okay," she said. "What is it?"

"Come on, walk with me," Shepard said.

Jodie then began walking over with Shepard, crossing the short distance to the Mako. "So, Shepard..." said Jodie. "What do you need?"

"I talked to Dr. Chakwas," Shepard replied. "In terms of armor, we may have something that can possibly fit your... _dimensions_."

Jodie frowned a little at the wording before she shook her head. "That's fine," she said. "So how do we get that together?"

Shepard then pointed to a man who was standing rather close to where the Mako was. He was standing by some crates, tending to some equipment. "That's the guy you want to talk to," Shepard said. "He's the Normandy's requisitions officer. He'll probably have something in stock for you." He glanced down, before nodding at Jodie. "Unfortunately, he does ask for money on that."

Jodie frowned, looking at the requisitions officer. "You have to pay for the armor here?" she asked.

"Well, unfortunately, that's how he runs," said Shepard. Jodie thought she saw the faintest hint of a leer from Shepard, but it quickly vanished. "I can cover most of the costs, though, so just tell him that I'll be paying for your armor." He glanced at Ashley. "Has she briefed you about assault rifle use?"

Jodie nodded. "She even walked me through cleaning it," she replied. She then paused, looking at the ground before clearing her throat. "Um... sir."

Shepard shook his head. "Please, don't bother with that," he said. "It makes me feel old and stiff whenever I hear people say 'sir'."

Jodie frowned, but shook her head. "Yeah, okay," she said. "I just thought that I would do that... You know, this being a military ship and all, I thought I should respect that."

"Well, you're not technically Alliance, so you can be forgiven for that," he replied. "Personally, I'm not sure what some regs are about, but I guess I'll have to deal with that." Shepard then walked over to Ashley and Tali, Jodie following as Ashley opened the door to the Mako. "I'll be down on the ground with these two. I would use that time to sort out your armor situation."

Jodie nodded. "I'll do that, si- Shepard." Jodie nodded. "Good luck."

Shepard said nothing as he entered the Mako quickly. Jodie cast a quick glance at Tali, bowing her head as Tali nodded. "You be careful down there," Jodie said to Tali.

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Tali. "I'll be careful."

And with this, Tali boarded the Mako. Ashley followed suit several minutes later, and then Jodie turned to walk to the elevator to make sure she was out of the way when the Mako deployed.

* * *

Jodie yanked on the fabric bodysuit of her new armor, noticing how tight it fit around her. She paused, briefly wondering if Shepard was planning on making Jodie walk around at the bottom of an ocean.

_It wouldn't be the first time I've done that_, she thought, a wry smile coming to her face. Her other hand tapped one of the ceramic plates that was over her left thigh as she looked at Aiden. _Hopefully I won't get chased by an entity, Aiden. Right?_

Aiden only gurgled in reply. Jodie shook her head, looking at herself in the mirror. The armor she eventually picked out was a sleek, black design. Jodie had wanted to go for something with a camo pattern, but she was hard-pressed to find anything of that sort in the Normandy's stockpile. The breast plate felt a little large on her, but other than that the armor fit reasonably well. This surprised Jodie quite a bit: she knew her stature should have posed a problem when getting the armor together, but ultimately it did not.

And for that, Jodie was grateful. She would take any protection she could take.

She looked over at the helmet she was holding in her hands. The requisitions officer had told her that she might need the helmet depending on where she would be deployed. She had known that most planets in the solar system did not support life, but she never imagined that she might actually have to step onto one of those planets.

_I still can't believe we need to keep this thing on hand,_ Jodie thought. She looked up at Aiden nervously. _What do you think is going to be there?_

Aiden gave a click that was devoid of all emotion. Jodie sighed, and then looked up at the ceiling. _I guess that's true,_ she thought. _If it can't sustain life..._

She paused, weighing the helmet in her hands. She then nodded up at Aiden. "Well, I think we've got what we're looking for," said Jodie. "Let's go change back into our regular clothes, yeah?"

Aiden clicked his agreement. With this, Jodie nodded at the bathroom mirror she had been using to test out her new armor, and then got to work trying to get the armor off.

* * *

As Jodie was closing the locker that now contained her armor as well as her pistol and assault rifle, she heard her omni-tool ping. She looked at the omni-tool in question, noticing that there was an indication for a new message. Frowning, Jodie opened the omni-tool, and immediately blinked upon seeing that the message came from Kalo'Veera.

"Oh... He replied!" she said to herself, opening the message quickly. She smiled upon seeing Kalo's extranet mail address at the message, and so she leaned forward to read Kalo's message.

"_Jodie,_

_It makes me happy to see that you have actually messaged me. If I am being quite honest, I have seen many roommates of mine at this shelter leave without ever actually sending me a message. The fact that you have done this small little thing... You have no idea what it means to me, Jodie. So thank you._

_Things have been rather quiet ever since you left. Nobody has moved into my room since you left, which just amplifies the quiet a little more. Honestly, it is a little unsettling. If a ship was this quiet on the Fleet, it would usually signal that something was wrong. I have to say that, even a year into my already overlong Pilgrimage, I am still a little unsettled by the silence. I can sleep reasonably well now, but sometimes I feel that something bad is going to happen. I do not expect that you would understand, but I thought I might write it down. Knowing you, I have the feeling you would care._

_I am glad to hear that your quarian friend is alive and well. I find it strange that she became so acquainted with a human before her Pilgrimage, but I guess that cannot be helped. Such things are rare within the Fleet, you know, and to be honest this is the first I have heard of a quarian being friends with an alien pre-Pilgrimage. I do hope your Commander will be an asset to her Pilgrimage at some point; he would be a rather terrible friend if he did not, in my estimation._

_I saw the report on the news about the shootout at the C-SEC office. I did not know that you nearly got killed to get that information about Saren to the Council. I hope that your safety is guaranteed now, Jodie. It seems odd to give you safety aboard the ship heading the manhunt for Saren, but I suppose that the logic presented holds quite a lot of truth to it. After all, he would not dare attack the person who is leading the manhunt against him on his own ship, no? Even so, Jodie, I hope you say away from him. I imagine that he would be rather angry that you helped to unravel his plans._

_I do not have much more to say, but I do hope you reply at some point in the future._

_Keelah se'lai,_

_Kalo'Veera_"

Jodie paused, looking at the message with a small smile on her face. She could hardly believe that it was sitting in her inbox, staring her in the face. She wondered briefly if paper mail was still delivered in this day and age, but settled for reading the message electronically.

_So _this _is what it's like to have a pen pal_, she thought. _I guess that..._

Jodie's hand immediately hovered to the reply space, opening a reply box to the message. She found her heart flutter as she thought of this, and she shifted her posture.

And that was when her back rubbed against a few knobs on the surface behind her.

_Oh my..._ Jodie looked behind her seeing the lockers behind her. _I should... _probably _answer this away from here_. She chuckled nervously, and then began walking away from the lockers. Aiden could only groan in reply to this, Jodie casting him an innocent facial expression as she looked for somewhere quiet, somewhere isolated where she could reply.

_I think I should probably reply as soon as possible,_ she thought. _After all, I_-

And that was when the ship rocked slightly. Jodie was caught off guard by this, slamming her foot against the floor and waving her arms to steady herself. She then felt a force act on her to keep her upright, and immediately she could tell that Aiden was acting to keep her up. She quickly righted herself, though, looking around and breathing in and out uncertainly.

Off to the side, Jodie noticed that Wrex was looking up, seeming rather annoyed. He pushed off the wall, looking above as he crossed his arms.

"What was _that _about?" Jodie asked.

"Sounds like trouble, if you ask me," said Wrex.

Jodie shrugged. "Possibly," she said. "You think that was the thrusters?"

"Probably," said Wrex. "Let's hope Shepard didn't get his ass kicked." He then paused. "Or let's. I'm itching for some action right about now."

Jodie cringed. "I'm not sure that's a good thing to-"

And then she was interrupted by the hangar door opening. Jodie was suddenly hit by a wave of heat that almost caused her to sweat immediately. She frowned upon noticing this, and then took a sniff of the air. Her face scrunched up at the acrid smell of the air, and she found herself looking at Wrex. The krogan shrugged, and then Jodie looked back to the ground that she saw beneath them.

And that was when she saw the first of the volcanic plumes rise up. She jumped, seeing the billowing lava appear from a crack some distance away. She looked at the ground further, noticing that the obviously man... well, _alien_-made structure seemed to be vibrating a little. She cast a glance at Wrex, and then she heard a far-off explosion occur.

She then looked at the mouth of the alien-made structure as the Normandy got as close to the structure as the ship dared. "Oh dear..." she said. "What did he do?"

That was the moment at which Jodie saw Ashley run out of the maw of the alien-made structure. Jodie rushed forward as the Normandy got as close to the ground as it dared. Jodie slowed down, working her way to the edge of the hangar door. Before Jodie knew what was happening, Ashley had jumped in the air, and Jodie could only lunge forward in time to grab Ashley's hand. Jodie got to her feet slowly, grunting as she pulled Ashley into the ship. In a flash, though, the load lightened, and Ashley was pulled into the ship immediately.

Jodie turned immediately back to the opening, catching sight of Wrex letting go of Ashley before she saw an unknown asari run towards them. Jodie brought her left arm out behind her, taking hold of the asari's left hand with her own and pulling her into the ship. As Jodie helped the asari onto the Normandy, she looked back and saw Shepard run out towards the ship, Tali following quickly. Jodie looked over to them as the structure began to crumble.

That was when Jodie reached out again. She brought it out just in time to grab a hold of Shepard's arm, as he managed to jump onto the hangar door. Tali followed soon after, with Wrex and a newly-recovered Ashley helping the quarian into the ship. Jodie then found Shepard signalling to get back into the hangar proper, an order Jodie was only too happy to follow considering the intense heat.

"Joker, get us out of here, _now!_"

And with this, the hangar door closed, the sounds of a loud rumble being cut off as the ship flew away. Jodie blinked in shock, looking to the three ground team members and the asari newcomer as they all took a few seconds to catch their breath. Shepard himself stumbled a few feet into the hangar, steadying himself on his knees. The other ground team members did much the same thing, leaving Jodie and Wrex to stare at the four of them in surprise.

Jodie and Wrex gave each other a knowing glance, Jodie squinting ever so slightly.

"As I was saying, I'm not sure it's a good thing to hope for." With this said, Jodie turned her attention to the commander, crossing her arms as she stared at him balefully. "Shepard, with all due respect, what the hell did you _do _out there?"

Shepard cracked a smile at the two of them. "Nothing much," he said. "Well, except for using a mining laser near a semi-active volcano. Sensitivity is apparently not exclusive to people."

And even despite the fact that she had been interrupted by whatever it was she had just witnessed, Jodie managed to return the smile.

* * *

Jodie looked at the newcomer in silence. The asari was a considerably lighter shade of blue than Sura, but also looked quite a bit younger with her dark blue freckles and somewhat wide eyes. The asari looked a little flustered at first, though Jodie felt it might have something to do with how suddenly she had been pulled onto the Normandy. Shepard stood at the head of the briefing room, giving her a soft glance as he looked to the rest of the room.

Jodie was the only other one standing in that room. There had not been enough chairs there to seat everyone for the briefing, but the possible conundrum had been solved when Jodie volunteered to stand. She stood right by Tali's chair, leaning against the chair and being careful to make sure she stayed standing. She glanced over at the console at the front of the room, wondering if Shepard would ever use that.

Finally, after a somewhat tense silence, the console at the head of the room came to life.

"_Well, Commander, I have to say that that was too close,_" Joker's voice said. "_Ten more seconds, and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull._" Joker paused for a few seconds, giving Jodie enough time to look over at Liara. "_Just for future reference_."

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making _jokes_?" Liara asked in disbelief.

Shepard shrugged. "It's a coping mechanism," he replied. "You'll get used to it."

Liara nodded, shifting her posture slightly. "I see," she said. "It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander." She then leaned back in her chair. "But I am grateful to you, Commander. You saved my life back there, and not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"What did Saren want with you?" Kaidan asked. "Do you know something about the Conduit?"

"Only that it was related to the Prothean extinction," Liara replied. "That is my field of expertise."

Jodie frowned, looking at Shepard immediately. "Shepard, do you think this is related to the Reapers?" she asked.

Liara looked over at Jodie. "The Reapers?" Liara asked.

"We don't know much about them, but we recovered a recording of Saren talking about the Reapers," said Shepard. "Even better, I know what they are..."

The asari glanced at Jodie and then looked at Shepard. "You do?" she asked. "How?"

"I received a vision from a prothean beacon on Eden Prime," Shepard said. "It showed me these... machines, overrunning the Prothean empire. There were so many screams, and then I saw a planet get blacked out..." Jodie leaned forward, looking at Shepard with an inquisitive look. "It must have been the Reapers, I think. They wiped out the Prothean empire."

The asari paused, bringing her hand up to her chin. "I... I suppose that makes sense," she replied. "The Prothean beacons were meant to transmit information directly into the mind of the user." She paused. "You must be remarkably strong-willed. Most information from a beacon comes as a scramble to non-Protheans. I am surprised you made any sense of it at all." She scooted to the edge of her chair before looking at Shepard. "And this beacon was on Eden Prime?"

"Yeah," Ash interjected. "It didn't last past Shepard, though. Saren had already used it before we got to it, too..."

"That would not surprise me," Liara said. "A Prothean beacon, even one that is not fully functional, is worth any risk. It is no wonder Saren worked with the geth..." She paused, looking over at Shepard. "I still cannot believe you have a definitive answer to what happened to the Protheans. It is... _difficult _to find any evidence to prove the theories." She paused. "Though it does confirm a theory I have been following for some time."

"Which is...?" Jodie asked.

"That the Protheans were lost to a war of some kind." Liara leaned forward. "The real trouble with finding evidence of what happened to the Protheans is that much of it was wiped away. It is as if someone did not want us to know the answers." She then looked at Shepard. "The remarkable thing I have discovered in my research is that the Protheans were not the first civilization to mysteriously disappear. The cycle would have started long before them." She sighed. "I guess it makes sense that these Reapers would have erased all evidence, perhaps to keep the cycle going."

Jodie shivered as the implications of this came to the forefront. She heard Aiden whoosh with a perturbed air, and the goosebumps came up her arms as she heard this. _A group of sentient machines bent on wiping out all life?_ she thought. _My God..._ She glanced down at the ground, squeezing her hands into fists to steel herself against the thoughts swimming in her head.

Ashley, however, shifted in her seat. "Well, that's interesting and all, but that doesn't help us with Saren," she said.

Liara jumped. "Ah, sorry," she said. "My scientific curiosity got the best of me, I'm afraid." She shook her head. "I don't have any new information to offer in terms of Saren. As I said on Therum, I have not even contacted my mother for some time. This is the first I've heard of her working with Saren."

Jodie nodded, realizing that Liara was probably referring to the female voice that was on Tali's recording.

Shepard nodded. "I see," he said. He nodded, looking at Liara. "I don't know why Saren wanted your head, but I think we'll all be better off if you came along."

Liara stood up upon hearing this. "Thank you, Commander," she said. "I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on."

Wrex leaned back, looking at Liara. "And her biotics will come in handy once the fighting starts," he commented.

Shepard nodded. "Welcome aboard the Normandy, Liara," he said.

* * *

Jodie sat at the mess hall again, looking over her response to Kalo'Veera. She had spent the better part of ten minutes putting everything down on the messenger client, and thankfully nobody had bothered her while she was in the act. She paused, looking over the message again and checking for every last detail. The words had come with a little effort, but Jodie was willing to work her way through it: after all, she had maintained no form of contact like what she was starting to acquire with Kalo'Veera. She had lost plenty of friends before: she wanted to make sure she could keep some semblance of sentient contact.

And as she read through the last of her errors, she nodded, giving the message a final look-over:

"_Kalo,_

_You're welcome for the message. To be frank, I've never done anything like this before. I never had a reason to, you know? But now that I do, well, here we are, yeah?_

_Really? I guess that's a difference between us, then: you like some background noise, and I like the quiet. I had bad childhood experiences when going to sleep: if there's no noise, I find it's better for my peace of mind. Sorry to hear that you can't seem to sleep with the silence. Perhaps adding some quiet music would help? I don't know; it may not help that much considering how used to it you've probably gotten by now. But it's something, isn't it? And hey, if you need any suggestions, I've got more than a few. I know that Nathan and Cole would sometimes do that when I was having trouble sleeping, so maybe it'll work for you as well?_

_I guess Shepard would be a terrible friend in that event, haha. But no, they seem to have gotten along pretty well. I wonder why Tali didn't think of messaging him, honestly. If they knew each other that well, I'm sure she would've known that he would come to help her at the first sign of trouble. But she didn't message him, so... I don't know. I get the feeling this all would've turned out differently if she had contacted him. But oh well, that's in the past now._

_Well, unfortunately, we may have to confront him with me in his presence. I'm sure it'll be fine by then, though: I've dealt with much worse people trying to get at me. I at least have friends that can help me fight them off now: this is something I wish I had earlier in my life. I'm sure I'll be fine if we run into Saren. We have Shepard, after all. I sense he's a pretty good leader, even if he does seem to do some rather reckless things._

_Speaking of which, I guess I'm not the only one in that situation anymore. We picked up an asari today; it's Matriarch Benezia's daughter, if you've ever heard of her. Apparently, Saren wanted her dead too for some reason. I'm guessing it's because Benezia is in league with Saren. I haven't gotten to talk with her yet, but she seems kind of like me. At least she had a translator on her, though. I guess that'll help her a lot. She seems nice enough, and I'm going to bet that she'll be a good friend to all on the ship._

_Anyway, I've got a lot more things to do. Duty calls, all that. But I'll send a message when I can._

_Stay safe out there,_

_Jodie._

_P.S. What does "Keelah se'lai" mean?_"

Jodie nodded as she read the message again, smiling as she brought her hand over to the send button. She closed her eyes, and then she sent the message over to Kalo'Veera. She drummed her fingers against the table as soon as she did this, closing her omni-tool and smiling.

_I'm really starting to get the hang of those holograms_, she thought. _I guess that's just one more thing there._

She then heard a cough from behind her. She turned to look to see Shepard standing there, looking at her with a determined look on his face.

Jodie blinked, and then got to her feet. "Oh, Shepard," she said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Shepard leaned towards Jodie. "When we get to our next destination, I want you to suit up," he said. "I think it's time I took you out for a test drive on the field."


End file.
